NHS nurse struck off for racist Facebook posts claiming immigrants are ‘invading our streets’

NHS nurse struck off for racist Facebook posts claiming immigrants are ‘invading our streets’ Tracy Ellis claimed immigrants should be sent back ‘where they came from’ - Bookmark An NHS nurse has been removed from the professional register after making a series of "racist" posts on Facebook, including one where she referred to the Southport killer as an "illegal immigrant" who arrived in the UK on a "dinghy". Tracy Ellis's comments, which spanned approximately two years, were brought to the attention of the nurses' regulator by an anonymous report. In another post, she claimed that "Black and ethnic minority" individuals were the most likely to carry knives, urging that "something needed to be done about it “quick”. An investigation concluded that her "violent" language was "designed to incite hatred towards immigrants and ethnic minorities". Ms Ellis repeatedly advocated for sending people "back to where they came from" and claimed that immigrants were "invading our streets". The nurse told a disciplinary investigation that she "couldn’t change her views" on illegal immigration, but she "didn’t bring it into work" and she "treated everybody the same". A misconduct panel has now found that her posts could "create an intimidating environment for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds", and she has been struck off. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana targeted a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024, where he killed six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine. The killer was born in Cardiff in 2006 and moved to the Southport area in 2013. Mob-type violence broke out following the stabbing, believed to be fuelled by misinformation online. A disciplinary hearing was told that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) received a report about Ms Ellis in August 2024. The anonymous report said that there were "deep concerns regarding sharing of offensive and racist posts on Facebook" which dated back as far as 2022. The West Yorkshire-based nurse, who did not attend the hearing because she "now [has] another job", was working as a nurse for Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, at Dewsbury Hospital, at the time. During an internal investigation, Ms Ellis accepted that she made the posts and comments on social media. One of the posts said: "Shocking news about the stabbings in Southport 1 poor little girl has died. It was an illegal immigrant who’s responsible the piece of s*** came here on a f***ing dinghy and was on mi6 watch list, wtf has our country become and with this lot in power its only gonna get worse." Another read: "So, these immigrants are all armed and riot police are sent in it’s time this government grew a pair and sent them back to where they came from and quick one big f***ing joke is this country." The disciplinary panel found that the language she used here "is extreme and violent in tone and is designed to raise the temperature in relation to this particular issue". She said that she made the posts out of "anger about what was happening in the country" and "she couldn’t change her views" regarding illegal immigration. Ms Ellis admitted she shouldn’t have made them, but said "she didn’t bring it into work, she never has done". The nurse, who was up to date with her equality diversity and inclusion (EDI) training at the time, also responded to a Facebook post asking which "ethnicity tops the charts for knife wielding". She said: "Black and ethnic minority. Something needs to be done and quick." Responding to another comment which said "Exactly, but they (illegal, immigrants, or any other culture) claiming benefits that we’re paying for, have more rights than us", she wrote "I know it boils my p***". She also shared a post which said "The government really need to pull their fingers out and send these Albanians back its beyond ridiculous it’s about time they helped out [sic] own homeless for once". Ms Ellis apologised for her actions in a statement made to the disciplinary panel, saying that she "did not [intend] to offend or upset anybody". She said that "she’s had prisoners, scum of the earth, from prisons, rapists, paedophiles, [she] treated them exactly the same". Ms Ellis continued: "I am ashamed and upset of my online conduct which was both unprofessional and inappropriate." The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has a policy against "inappropriate use of social media by staff". The disciplinary panel found that Miss Ellis broke this policy, as her posts were "racist" and "went far beyond legitimate political debate". It found that some "sweeping and discriminatory" posts suggested "all migrants within the country present a risk and have no proper place in the country". The "wider political climate and ongoing public discussion regarding immigration at the relevant time" were not found to justify the posts. The panel noted that her Facebook account was private, but found that there was no guarantee that her posts would remain private. The Fitness to Practise Committee panel said: "The panel noted that she continued conversations, sought validation from others engaging in the exchanges, and repeated similar established racist rhetoric such as (’send them back to where they came from’; ‘invading our streets’) which suggests that people from different races are not welcomed, across multiple posts and comments over a prolonged period." It decided that her "repeated engagement with these posts and continuation were designed to incite hatred towards immigrants and ethnic minorities". The panel continued: "The panel considered that Ms Ellis’ conduct had the potential to create an intimidating environment for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds working within multicultural healthcare settings." It noted that her description of some patients as "scum of the earth" was "offensive, unprofessional and inappropriate and further highlights her lack of insight on the impact of her language and how this might impact on her practice". Ms Ellis has been struck off the nursing register. She is also subject to an interim striking-off order in case she decides to appeal the decision.