Abbott says blacks face NHS racism

UNABASHED by the row that followed her attack on Finnish nurses, Diane Abbott, the Labour MP, has claimed that black nurses face institutional racism within the NHS. Black nurses were confined to the most menial jobs, kept on low grades and forced to work most of the night shifts, said Miss Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, in yesterday's Nursing Standard magazine. There were disproportionate numbers of them in unpopular NHS areas such as mental health and geriatrics, she said.

A major reason why hospitals faced recruitment problems, said Miss Abbott, was that "spiralling numbers" of black nurses were now deserting the profession. "Black nurses are the Cinderellas of the NHS. No one appreciates their contribution. No one talks about the racism they suffer."

In November, she was forced to apologise after criticising her local hospital, the Homerton in east London, for employing "blonde, blue-eyed" Finns "who may have never met a black person before, let alone touched one", instead of local Caribbean nurses.

Miss Abbott said: "The Royal College of Nursing was quick to criticise me for my alleged remarks about Finnish nurses. I only wish they would put as much energy into speaking up for black nurses."

Last night Gerald Malone, Health Minister, urged Tony Blair to take disciplinary action against Miss Abbott. Electronic Telegraph