Black paramedic recalls 'N-word' abuse as Trust signs anti-racism pledge

Glenn Carrington, 60, says he found Ku Klux Klan hoods and National Front stickers stuck to his locker in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the n-word and swastikas scrawled on his desk well into the 2000s.

Even in recent years his BAME colleagues have been statistically less likely to be promoted and more likely to be disciplined, he said.

But as the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) this week becomes the first NHS trust to sign a new Anti-Racism Charter from public sector union Unison, Mr Carrington said things are much improved.

“The first thing to do is realise there is a problem, and to their credit the Trust has realised there is a problem and this new guy [recently appointed CEO Tom Abell] is really walking the walk,” Mr Carrington told this newspaper.

“There’s a proper grievance system in place now, there’s a cultural ambassador, an anti-racism charter, things have improved a lot.”

After serving a decade in a British Army tank regiment, Mr Carrington joined what was then the Cambridgeshire ambulance service in March of 1986.

He said: “I was the only black person in the whole of the ambulance service, and it stayed that way until we merged with Norfolk and Suffolk, then I think there was one other person of colour.

“It was hard. I used to be called the n word, black ******, black ****, black this and that - and the thing was, that was seen as banter.

“I’d go into work and there’d be bogies on my steering wheel and swastikas written on my locker and ‘KKK’ on my desk.

“There were NF (National Front) stickers. Or I’d come in and find a pillowcase stuck to my locker with eye holes cut out like a KKK hood.

“I never got that sort of stuff from patients though, very very rarely - maybe the occasional drunk was a bit salty. But I think when you’re in pain you don’t care about the colour of the person who gets the pain to go away.”

EEAST's Unison branch chairman Glenn Carrington (Image: Archant)

Asked why he stayed in the job, Mr Carrington explained: “It was worse in the army. And I love my job."

He said superiors told him ethnic minority recruitment was not a priority because “we don’t want people like that in the service” and he found himself the victim of “backlash” if he complained about abuse.

“Back then if you complained things got worse, so you just got on with it.”

A genuine culture change began, according to Mr Carrington who is branch secretary for his trade union, with the appointment of Dorothy Hosein as chief executive in 2018. And things have improved further under new boss Tom Abell.

Glenn Carrington with his Unison colleagues Mo Tsentides and Wairimu Njiiri [R] and Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, holding Unison's Anti-Racism Charter to which EEAST has signed up (Image: Glenn Carrington)

Now EEAST has signed up to UNISON’s new Anti-Racism Charter which commits organisations to a series of measures designed to prevent conscious and unconscious racial bias.

These include championing a racially diverse workforce, regularly reviewing strategies to improve racial equality, having a clear and visible anti-racism programme in place, and providing unconscious bias training and “robust” equality training.

Organisations will also report on their ethnicity pay gaps and monitor disciplinary and grievance processes to ensure outcomes are fair.

Mr Abell said: “I am delighted that EEAST is among the first NHS trusts to have signed this important Anti-Racism Charter. It underlines our commitment to eliminating discrimination in all forms at the Trust.

“Signing this charter is an important part of our inclusion work as we work to make EEAST a better place to work and receive care.”

Tom Abell has officially taken up his post as chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST). (Image: East of England Ambulance Service)

EEAST is still recovering its staffing levels having been plagued by shortages in recent months as Covid, quarantine, and burnout have taken their toll after two years of the pandemic.

Last week firefighters from Norfolk Fire and Rescue had to be drafted in to "co-respond" to emergency calls, including responding to three cardiac events on Saturday.