Health and social care leaders in Northern Ireland have said that ethnic minority communities are the “very fabric of our health and care system” amid the recent racist attacks in Belfast.
Members of the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care (NICON) have joined together to condemn the violence and warned that “attacks or intimidation will hurt the whole of our society”.
Mark Taylor, NICON spokesperson, said: “As the representative body for health and social care (HSC) leaders in Northern Ireland, including chairs and chief executives, NICON wishes to express our shock at the racist attacks and intimidation that have taken place over the last few days.
“We highly value our ethnic minority communities who contribute much to our society.
“More specifically, we highly value our ethnic minority HSC staff.
“They are part of the very fabric of our health and care system – we are completely dependent on them.
“We spend a lot of time and money attracting skilled and compassionate staff from other parts of the world.
“Our members have been doing everything we can to support and care for colleagues, and we will redouble our efforts to ensure they feel safe to stay.
“We welcome the many other voices beyond health and social care who have also set out their support for those who feel threatened by these attacks.
“To the ringleaders of this violence, we want to highlight that any continuation of the attacks or intimidation will hurt the whole of our society.”
