Outrage as NHS training course claims ‘Asian men’ won’t give eye contact because it is ‘disrespectful’ in their culture

Medics have criticized ‘discriminatory’ and ‘racist’ NHS training which claims ‘Asians’ may not look medical staff in the eye as this is seen as disrespectful.

An NHS medic from Bristol shared a screenshot of the snap on X, formerly known as Twitter, which asks why an ‘Asian man’ might be reluctant to make eye contact when receiving care.

Possible answers include that his culture “doesn’t encourage eye contact,” that he is ashamed, or that he has something to hide.

Test results show that the first option is correct, with the answer being that ‘Asians are often discouraged from making eye contact as it can be seen as disrespectful’.

Responding to the post, some mocked the broadness of the term Asian, which they said could mean anyone from “Afghanistan to South Korea.”

Others criticized the way the training ignored other clinical reasons for the reluctance to make eye contact, such as a patient possibly having autism.

Surgical trainee Ashuvini Mahendran was among those critical of the demand, claiming to teach healthcare workers to generalize people from multiple backgrounds

Other healthcare professionals, such as consultant psychiatrist Daniel Wilkes, visually made clear how broad the term ‘Asian’ is

Doctors quickly criticized the training for making gross assumptions about a large group of people from different backgrounds.

Ashuvini Mahendran, the NHS surgical trainee who posted the screenshot, wrote: ‘Happy Mandatory Discriminatory E-Learning Day’

She added, “It insinuates ALL Asians and teaches healthcare professionals to generalize people from an entire continent, who make up nearly 60 percent of the world’s population, without any nuance.”

Dr. Sanchit Turaga, an Oxford doctor, also described it as ‘casual racism’.

Psychiatrist Daniel Wilkes posted a map of the Asian continent with the words: ‘Asian.’ That limits it.’

Other experts highlighted how the question and answers ignored potential clinically relevant reasons why a patient was not making eye contact.

Professor Nicola Shelton, a public health expert at University College London, wrote: ‘It also ignores neurodivergence as a possibility. And implies that not making eye contact is a failure,” she said.

The trust that provided the online training was not named.

NHS England told MailOnline it has ‘no jurisdiction’ over the training local trusts can provide.

Former NHS England leaders on racial equality in the workplace said the organization should show more leadership and help local trusts create more appropriate training.

Dr. Paratha Kar, an NHS consultant in Portsmouth and former medical staff lead on race equality for NHS England, was one of them.

He said: ‘The NHS Workforce Training and Education Department probably has a role in this area to try to assist education and ensure that such errors are corrected and amended accordingly.

‘That would be the job of national bodies to guide local systems in this area – and eliminate variation – a stated aim of the NHS.’

Dr. Kar labeled the question from the training as ‘stupid’ and ‘nonsense’.

“You may be averting your eyes because of a background in autism or disability, it has nothing to do with color,” he said.

‘What does ‘Asian’ mean? It could be anyone from Afghanistan to South Korea.

“It doesn’t look like it was designed by people from that community.”

Professor Anton Emmanuel, an expert in colorectal and gastrointestinal health, and former head of NHS England’s race equality standard, branded the training as ‘an example of excessive simplification in the name of attempts at cultural sensitivity’.

He told MailOnline that NHS England’s response to the issue was not surprising.

“Under the governance code, trusts are independent of NHS England, so their response is predictable,” he said.

‘My personal belief is that there is an important potential role for a national framework of what is included in training, which can then be tailored to local needs.’