INEQUALITY and discrimination among NHS staff are getting worse, according to a report published by the Nuffield Trust today.

The think tank found that the problem is contributing to the health service’s shortage of 100,000 staff, including 50,000 nurses.

The report, entitiled Attracting, Supporting and Retaining a Diverse NHS Workforce, was commissioned by NHS Employers, which acts on behalf of NHS trusts in England and Wales.

It says that 13 per cent of Muslim staff have felt discriminated against by a manager or colleague within the last 12 months, compared with 6 per cent of workers with no religion.

It also states that ethnic minority staff are 27 per cent less likely than white staff to be “very senior managers,” though there are large disparities between trusts.

After nine years’ service, 41 per cent of male nurses progressed up two pay bands compared with 20 per cent of female nurses, according to the report.

It also found that only two in five deaf NHS workers said they had the reasonable adjustments they needed at work during the pandemic.

The report concludes that the situation “stands in the way of the health service’s ability to find and retain staff at a time when more capacity is desperately needed and targets require an additional 50,000 nurses.”

Royal College of Nursing chief executive Pat Cullen said the NHS leadership has “no alternative but to act on the findings” of the report.

“It’s not just a barrier to recruiting and retaining more nurses; it puts patients at risk,” she said.

NHS Employers chief executive Danny Mortimer said: “There is an absolute commitment from our members to finally address the inequities in our workplaces.”