A Jewish British doctor has detailed alarming accounts of professional misconduct, alleging that certain National Health Service (NHS) personnel have explicitly pledged to withhold life-saving emergency medical attention from patients of Israeli origin.
The practitioner, identified only by his first name, Baruch, expressed in an interview with ITV News profound dismay over private interactions with fellow clinicians at a London medical facility who admitted they would refuse to render critical aid to Israelis facing life-threatening crises in accident and emergency departments.
“It is very scary to me that I have met doctors who’ve said that they will not, point-blank, treat somebody who has come from certain areas of the world. If they are dying in A&E, I’ve been told by doctors that if they’re from Israel, then they will not treat that person. That to me is disgraceful," Baruch stated.
The doctor further claimed to have observed instances where Jewish hospital patients were actively denied access to kosher nutritional provisions.
The testimonies prompted an immediate reprimand from the Department of Health and Social Care, which described the allegations as "shocking."
Government officials formally conceded that "the medical healthcare professional regulatory system is failing to protect Jewish patients and NHS staff."
In response, the Prime Minister has commissioned an emergency regulatory review, spearheaded by Lord Mann, to systematically investigate antisemitic hostility and broader institutional prejudice throughout the public healthcare network.
The pervasive hostility within the medical sector, coupled with compounding societal threats, has prompted Baruch and his wife to orchestrate an exit from the United Kingdom to establish a new life in Israel. The departure marks the conclusion of a historical family presence spanning four centuries, tracing back to the resettlement era under Oliver Cromwell in the 1600s. With his parents and five siblings already residing abroad, Baruch is the final member of his lineage to depart the country.
“To have that long lineage of a family who came here 400 years ago and now having to leave because on the one hand we want to leave, we love Israel, but also leaving because of antisemitism, is very sad," Baruch reflected.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care reiterated the administration's stance on the escalating cultural issues.
“These reports are shocking. It is unacceptable that people do not currently feel safe working in and using the health service. Recent incidents of antisemitism have drawn stark attention to problems of culture and how racist incidents are addressed. This government has been clear that change is needed and that the medical healthcare professional regulatory system is failing to protect Jewish patients and NHS staff. That’s why the prime minister ordered an urgent review, led by Lord Mann, into antisemitism and all forms of racism in the health service. We will use every tool at our disposal to make sure Jewish NHS staff feel safe at work," the spokesperson confirmed.
The report comes amid a wave of antisemitism in the UK. A stabbing attack wounding two Orthodox Jews in the Golders Green neighborhood of London in late April prompted the United Kingdom to raise its national terrorism threat level from "substantial" to "severe" for the first time in over four years.