What are the individual and organisational responses to racism towards healthcare staff: A scoping review

Objective: To map the existing literature describing individual and organisational responses to racism towards healthcare staff and identify current gaps in the research landscape. Introduction: Healthcare staff from ethnically minoritised backgrounds are more likely than those in the majority to be subject to racism in the workplace. These incidents can be initiated by patients, their family and friends, or colleagues and have a negative impact on the person, group dynamics and the organisation. These outcomes are likely to be influenced by the response to racist incidents such as if they are challenged in the moment, reported and result in tangible institutional action or if they go unacknowledged. Inclusion criteria: Studies were considered for inclusion if they involved working age participants of any ethnic background working in a traditional healthcare setting. Studies where race is not considered, or where racism is explored but response to is not noted were excluded. Methods: A scoping review commenced February 2026 following guidance from the Joanna Briggs institute and PRISMA reporting guideline. The databases Academic Search Ultimate, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL Ultimate and MEDLINE Complete, were searched with terms relating to keywords identified from the research question following the population, concept, context framework. The titles and abstracts of the articles were screened against inclusion criteria which included limits relating to language, age of participants and workplace setting. The remaining articles are being read in full to allow data extraction. The data will then be presented thematically aligning with objectives. Ethics: As this is secondary research ethics approval is not required Keywords: anti-racism; bystander intervention; healthcare; micro-aggression; racism