28/05/2026
Filipino Doctor Stabbed by Patient in London Hospital
Migrante UK sends their message of support and quick recovery to Dr. Paul Bisnar, who was stabbed by a patient seven times with a knife while at work. He is now in a stable condition and recovering from his injuries.
This is a deeply tragic and distressing incident. We hope that the NHS provides Dr. Bisnar with the full care, support, and protection he needs as he recovers physically, emotionally, and mentally from this attack.
As we send our solidarity and wishes fo Dr. Bisnar’s full recovery, we are also reminded that Filipino health workers in the UK are at constant risk of serious harm on a day to day basis. They face contagious disease, unsafe staffing conditions, verbal abuse, and workplace violence. Despite guidelines for health workers to de-escalate or protect themselves, incidents of violence against health staff persists and can have lifelong consequences.
When a healthcare assistant is kicked by a confused patient who just had a fall, there is often no time to report the incident in a busy environment where staffing is short and you have many other patients to look after. And despite recent NHS and union surveys that show an increase in verbal and physical abuse against health staff within the past year, institutional response is slow and such incidents are downplayed. The statistics therefore do not clearly show the bigger picture of this danger.
The recent UK COVID-19 Inquiry has shown us how migrant and ethnic minority health workers, including Filipino workers, were placed at disproportionate risk during the pandemic. Filipino nurses were overrepresented among NHS nurse deaths accounting to 22% of COVID-19 deaths, while many migrant health workers faced high-risk roles, inadequate PPE, unsafe conditions, and barriers to speaking out because of insecure employment and visa restrictions.
Thus the call for safer work places and security for our health staff resonates now more than ever not only to Filipinos and migrants working in the UK, but also to all health workers in the NHS and private sectors.
The Migrant Perspective
When you add workplace violence to the discrimination, abuse, and increasing racism that OFWs and other migrants face in the UK, we get a darker picture of what it is like to be an immigrant. The search for greener pasteurs was never an easy path and unfortunately, many Filipinos are left without support as they are exposed to these problems abroad.
Violence against health staff can also happen outside hospital premises. Last year, Filipina nurse Apple Moorhouse was assaulted and racially abused by an elderly couple, who had now been jailed and sentenced guilty of racially aggravated assault.
Non-hospital Filipino workers also face abuse. Last month 18 Filipino workers in Newcastle were cruelly dismissed by a UK-based manpower agency from their workplace, exposing an exploitative condition werein Filipino workers had unfair and excessive wage deductios, with no security of tenure.
All over UK these unfair conditions are replicated with pig farmers and butchers.
What to Do?
Migrante UK therefore calls on Filipino migrant workers and the Filipino diaspora to rally together as a community to strenghten our advocacy for migrant workers protection and safer work places. We also urge Filipino staff to be more vocal and diligent in reporting incidents of workplace violence and abuse. Join our workshops on migrant workers rights and our campaign to protect Filipino workers rights in the UK.
Moreover, we call on Filipinos to support the campaign back in the Philippines for more jobs, decent and competitive wages for workers, especially those in the health and service sectors. We know that the revenue from remittances will never be enough and therefore urge Filipinos to support campaigns for national industrialisation and genuine agrarian reform that will create jobs and improve the economic situation of every Filipino. These can not be achieved if we remain in exploitative arrangements with countries that are not just benefitting from cheap labour and workers from the Philippines, but also cheap raw materials and resources. Together, let’s uphold the rights and dignity of Filipino migrants all over the world!
Protect our health workers!
Safety for health care workers!
Trabaho sa Pinas, hindi sa labas!
