Ali Upton, Chair of the Royal College of Nursing UK Safety Reps Committee, has made the following comment following a viewing of ‘Exposed’.
“It has taken me some time to be able to put into words the sadness and horror that I felt when I first watched ‘Exposed’. I couldn’t watch it all in one go and although I have also started watching the individual testimonials I cannot watch them in their entirety, I must pause them and return to watch the rest another time.
The thought of the psychological trauma that these black, brown and ethnically diverse colleagues have endured is abhorrent and to hear that it is from so called professional colleagues makes it worse. We work in a culture that pertains to not tolerate abuse from service users; what these nurses have endured is abuse from professional colleagues.
The sadness behind ‘Exposed’ is that the racism, bullying and harassment these 19 colleagues have openly talked about is only a small account of the toxicity that exists in healthcare. We must collectively work together to ensure that this behaviour does not continue, and employers have a zero tolerance.
A quote from the film that stays with me and shows the direction we must all take: ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced’. “