Reported racist abuse of healthcare staff increased by 73 per cent from 2023 to 2025, according to data obtained by the Medical Independent (MI).
The HSE data shows that over 300 such incidents were recorded on the National Incident Management System (NIMS) over the three-year period.
In 2023, 73 incidents of racist abuse of HSE employees were reported on the NIMS. The number rose to 133 in 2024 and stood at 126 last year (to 17 December 2025), according to the records released under Freedom of Information law. The data refers to HSE hospitals and facilities and excludes voluntary hospitals.
Under its “risk impact table” the HSE categorises incidents under five headings – ‘negligible’, ‘minor’, ‘moderate’, ‘major’, and ‘extreme’.
Of the 332 racist incidents recorded over the three years, 311 were labelled as ‘negligible’, 19 were described as ‘minor’, and two were described as ‘moderate’. There were no ‘major’ or ‘extreme’ incidents recorded.
Dr Mustafa Mehmood, General Secretary of the Irish Pakistani Professionals Association, and Consultant in Emergency Medicine, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, said that racial abuse has grown more frequent over the last number of years.
“[Ireland] was a lovely place to work in up until two or three years ago,” said Dr Mehmood, who came to Ireland in 2014.
“You were respected. Nobody would be hassling you. Now it is not uncommon to be racially abused at work by a patient, or on your way to work or coming back from work.”
He added that most abuse directed at healthcare workers is of a verbal nature, although physical assaults have occurred.
An international medical graduate, who wished to remain anonymous due to fears he may be targeted for speaking out, told MI about his experiences of racism in Ireland.
The doctor, who works in the Dublin region, first came to Ireland almost seven years ago.
“The first five years in Ireland, I absolutely loved it. In the last two years, there has been a change…,” he explained.
The doctor said he often experiences racist abuse from patients, with verbal abuse the most common form.
“Very often, you call the guards because someone either spat at you or you have to call the security of the hospital because they [the patient] have assaulted a staff member physically,” he stated. The doctor also faces racist abuse in society more generally.
“The impact is horrible. At the end of the day, we work in a very intense environment with a lot of responsibility and a lot of risk and [then] face racist abuse and being told that you don’t belong, or you’re not good enough. It honestly feels terrible.”
The Irish health system is highly dependent on international medical graduates. According to the Medical Council’s Medical Workforce Intelligence Report 2024, some 27.8 per cent of doctors working in Ireland qualified outside of the EU/UK. This compared with 25.7 per cent in 2023 and 23.3 per cent in 2022.
The most common country of qualification for these international graduates was Pakistan, with 2,314 doctors. This was followed by Sudan, with 1,240 doctors.
Speaking in November about the rise in racist abuse of healthcare workers, Council CEO Dr Maria O’Kane said: “Our health service would collapse overnight if it wasn’t for our internationally trained colleagues and friends. It is vitally important that there is a zero-tolerance approach to racial abuse, especially in healthcare settings.”
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