The prime minister has ordered a review of antisemitism in the NHS, saying there are too many cases “simply not being dealt with”.
The review is part of a wider crackdown on antisemitism in the UK, which will also see all 1.5m NHS staff undergo mandatory updated antisemitism and anti-racism training.
Meanwhile, NHS England will review guidance on staff uniforms to “protect freedom of religious expression while ensuring patients feel respected at all times”, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
NHS England and other healthcare bodies will also be asked to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
Sir Keir also announced a £10 million boost for security at sites including synagogues and Jewish schools, sharing the news during a visit to the Community Security Trust (CST), which provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK.
“We have heard loud and clear in the last few days and weeks that words are not enough, action is what matters,” he said.
Health correspondent
Wes Streeting was furious when Dr Rahmeh Aladwan was cleared by an interim orders tribunal last September.
The British-Palestinian doctor was referred to the medical tribunal following a series of social media posts, including one that said Israel was “humiliated” by the October 7 attacks.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) rejected the complaints against Dr Aladwan and said it believed her views did not present a real risk to patients.
It did not impose interim restrictions against the doctor.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has now re-referred Dr Aladwan for another interim orders tribunal while it continues its investigation.
This is normally done when it believes there is an immediate risk to public protection.
It is Dr Aladwan’s case that prompted the Health Secretary to demand changes to the law to make it easier to suspend doctors accused of misconduct from practising while they are under investigation.
Mr Streeting will hope these new measures introduced today will go some way towards his vision of a “universal health system that everyone should feel safe approaching if they need care, regardless of race, creed or religion”.
Dr Aladwan’s next tribunal hearing is scheduled for 23 October.
The NHS review – led by John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism – is expected to focus on how healthcare regulators tackle antisemitism and other forms of racism.
Andrew Gilbert, vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has welcomed the review, saying Jewish staff and patients had felt “let down by the NHS while antisemitism has been allowed to flourish and thrive”.
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Sir Keir also said some universities have been “too slow” in dealing with cases of antisemitism.
He singled out the University of Oxford, which is understood to have suspended a student on Wednesday after he was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.
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The student is alleged to have chanted for Gaza to “put the Zios in the ground” at a protest in London on Saturday.
“That was a slow reaction to the clearest of cases,” the PM said.
Today’s announcement comes in the wake of a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue that left two men dead, and after new Home Office figures suggested antisemitic hate crime remains near record levels.
