Boss tells black nurse to ‘bleach her skin’ for patients to be nice to her

Adelaide Kweyama, originally from South Africa, reported the incident took place following racial abuse by a man. The black nurse overheard the comments from the senior nursing team member, who said Adelaide Kweyama should ‘bleach her skin’. The comment not just hurt the nurse but was also shocking to hear.

What was more upsetting was the employment tribunal hearing that in Heathrow at an immigrant removal centre, and from a group of detainees, Kweyama had suffered racial insult. Also, Adelaide Kweyama reported that one man racially abused her and then started to pretend not to know English as she was treating him.




Eventually, Adelaide Kweyama reported the incident to a senior nurse. The reply that the black nurse received from her boss was to get a pool of bleach to whiten her skin tone so that her white patients could treat her nicely. In the later part of the day, Adelaide Kweyama could overhear the same senior nurse telling another colleague saying that she should expedite the skin bleaching as the patients were unwell and sick.

After a few weeks, Adelaide Kweyama sent an email to her agency, Athona, writing that she could not work at Heathrow center because this insult had disturbed her emotionally as well as psychologically. Also, in the same month, Kweyama was told that her boss had terminated the contract, and she couldn't work anymore there.

And even the NHS Foundation Trust dismissed the case under victimization and race discrimination.

FAQs:

What is NHS?
Newcastle Hospitals Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.

Who is Adelaide Kweyama?
A black nurse who suffered racial abuse while treating patients