According to reports from the tribunal, Adelaide Kweyama, a black nurse from South Africa, was advised by an NHS manager to “bleach her skin” so that she would “come back white and the patient will be nice to you.” This occurred after she had reported racial abuse from a patient who feigned inability to communicate in English. Ms. Kweyama, who was employed as an agency nurse at an immigrant removal centre in Heathrow, expressed shock at the comment. The senior nurse further remarked to a colleague that she was tired of employees claiming to be unwell and suggested Ms. Kweyama should “go and bleach her skin.”
Subsequently, Ms. Kweyama experienced racial abuse from male detainees at the centre who called her derogatory names. Despite raising concerns and filing incident reports, she felt unsupported by her managers. Following a separate incident where a detainee was racially abusive towards her, she was again told by the senior nurse to “bleach her skin.” This incident left Ms. Kweyama feeling depressed, prompting her to email her agency, Athona, stating her inability to continue working at the Heathrow centre due to emotional and psychological distress.
Despite her complaints of racial abuse and lack of support from the NHS Trust, Ms. Kweyama’s contract was terminated, with the reasoning cited as concerns about her mental health based on her statement. The tribunal concluded that Ms. Kweyama had been subjected to race-related harassment and victimization, both by her boss’s remarks and the termination of her agency role. However, her claim of direct race discrimination was dismissed. A hearing to determine remedies will be scheduled later.
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Source: MAIL online
