NHS staff should be banned from wearing pro-Palestinian badges, report recommends

NHS staff could be barred from wearing political badges on their uniforms, such as pro-Palestinian symbols, as part of proposals to help tackle antisemitism.

The measure is one of several recommendations in a review by the government's independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann.

The review examined antisemitism and other forms of racism within the NHS. Its findings include that some Jewish patients and NHS staff have felt the need to hide their religious identity.

Other recommendations made by Lord Mann include stronger accountability for NHS managers, improved recording and monitoring of racist incidents, and enabling more patients to record their ethnicity as Jewish.

Last year, the former Labour MP was tasked by the government with looking into ways patients can be protected from racism, following reports of antisemitism perpetrated by NHS doctors.

The report was one of several independent reviews of antisemitism in different sectors, which were commissioned in the wake of the fatal attack at Heaton Park Synagogue, in Manchester, in October 2025.

Lord Mann told the BBC: "The NHS should not be a place where you bring in your views. And the stronger the views, the bigger the problem."

"An 'I support Palestine' badge, or anything like that, is a problem for some people, just in the same way as an 'I support Israel' badge is a problem for some people. Don't wear either," he added.