THREAD
Why weren't health workers more protected from Covid? That they weren't is shameful. The virus heightened every existing inequality & oppression out there. In a system where racism is endemic, it was Black & Brown workers who bosses tried to push around the most. 1/11

The NHS in Wales was no different, and we should be honest about that. Even as they could see their fellow workers filling up the beds in ITU in April and May, Filipino nurses were told they had to 'do their bit.' But in reality, this meant being put at intolerable risk. 2/11

At the same time many Black and Asian workers felt compelled to work without adequate PPE because accessing it became so difficult. This was of course the case for many white workers as well, but BAME workers often felt extra pressure to say yes, and managers exploited this. 3/11

But the risk to these workers is not new. According to the British Heart Foundation, experts have known for 50 years that the risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is up to 50 per cent higher in first-generation South Asians than in the white European population in the UK. 4/11

Despite this, many workers from these communities were put on the most high risk rotas because management thought they wouldn't say no. In the end, many felt compelled to put themselves at risk and several died. 5/11

When Welsh Government was forced to act, it brought out a questionnaire for all minority workers, and if they were clearly at risk, it advised them to discuss the situation with their line manager. But this depended on the manager, and workers accessing it. 6/11

The Filipino nurse we spoke to was aware of the risk assessment, but hadn’t been given one by her line manager. Overhearing several white staff members discussing the form, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I said, ‘Oh, can I have a read?’” she said. 7/11

“And I looked at it," she told us. "And it looks like it is for BAME - the recent risk assessment, but it was given to the white staff [member] who works in my department, although her management is a different management.”
She would have completely gone without it. 8/11

Another point made by Lola the Filipino nurse was that the BME staff in her workplace were repeatedly picked to do particular tasks or be redeployed to Covid wards because they were often more open to working longer and harder hours because many had low incomes. 9/11

Now many of these workers have to live with the trauma of what they went through.
“[The] experience in the Covid ward actually caused a lot of psychological issues with us,” Lola told us. “I feel... I don't feel the same,” she said, breaking down. 10/11

Don't just read this thread, read the whole article by @frclrk. Yes it will take you 25 minutes but these workers and what they went through are worth that amount of your time. We need to understand what happened to make sure it never happens again. 11/11 https://www.voice.wales/we-were-thrown-under-the-bus-how-the-welsh-nhs-failed-its-black-brown-workers/