Thread by @TheBAMEGP, I’m just a normal salaried GP. Before Covid, I was like so [...]

Dr Sonali Dutta-Knight #blacklivesmatter

I’m just a normal salaried GP.

Before Covid, I was like so many of you. Why was I even a member of the @RCGP?

But #NHS staff were dying because they didn’t have enough #PPE and because they were #BAME and no one seemed to care...

I didn’t even have Twitter back then...

My experience Iof Twitter a decade ago was that it was just lots of people in a room shouting so I gave it a wide berth.

But people were dying and it wasn’t right that it was #BAME risk and lack of #PPE

@ThePalpitations @meenalsworld

So first I started posting on dr groups on Facebook and people said, Sonali, take this to Twitter.

So I overcame my fear of Twitter (truth; being public still gives me anxiety) and joined and started tweeting.

But revolutions will not be Tweeted.

The next step was creating my blog as my now alter ego of @TheBAMEGP because the title stated clearly what I was doing.

I’ve actually been public speaking about racism since I was 17.

Thank goodness for the work of @DrSimonLennane @doctimcook as it gave us evidence...

And that evidence was that 94% of doctors who died from #COVID19 were #BAME. @DrSimonLennane @doctimcook

But blogging & tweeting weren’t enough and I encountered racist trolls in the big medical Facebook groups...

@drcartersingh @DrShanHussain @DrSelvarajah

#MedTwitter

My honest feeling is that racists are complete **** but they are tolerated in those groups.

I had to do more.

I thought there should be a safe space for anti-racist health professionals so I created Healthcare Professionals Against Racism. https://www.facebook.com/groups/560934171228298/?ref=share

Facebook Groups

Healthcare Professionals Against Racism has 1,206 members. Registered healthcare professionals of ALL ethnicities only. The main focus of the group is a safe space for discussing issues relating to...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/560934171228298/?ref=share

And gladly over time, I found wonderful allies. To name a few:

@DipeshGopal introduced me to the BAME Primary Care Leaders Network and @SonaliKinra @NikkiKF @DrUmeshPrabhu @KalindiKrishna @DrSaumyaJha @Fiza_Salam

We are interested in protecting all doctors...

@EveryDoctorUK were amazing. Their leader invited me to be a speaker at an all-party meeting with MPs specifically to talk to them about the risks to BAME Covid staff in March.

So did our presentation have influence...

Yes. I believe it did.

And then there were more surprising leaders in our field who were allies.

I didn’t think people like @CNagpaul @kamleshkhunti @KailashChandOBE @NikkiKF would give the time of day to a little person like me to work in collaboration, but astoundingly, they did.

@NikkiKF helped me to get my ideas formally published in @BMJLeader

I work full time. I’m a Mum. I’m not part of a team. I wrote this without any backing.

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmjleader/2020/06/23/how-can-we-protect-nhs-bame-staff-by-sonali-dutta-knight/

@DrAoifeMolloy @tony_berendt @rogerkline

But I did have the moral and editorial support of my cheerleaders.

I’m a moderator and peer supporter for Breastfeeding for Doctors and they have had my back.

Such amazing women, in their own time, supporting Mums with evidence based support.
@milkymedics

And never ever to forget the support of my husband @DLDuttaKnight

We don’t live anywhere near family for lockdown childcare support. Whilst I’ve been writing, interviewing, networking, he has been caring for our toddler

Other amazing allies I have connected with have been journalists including @smithamundasada @Poppy_Jay_ @karimtl

Some drs have negative perceptions of journalists. Maybe I’m naive but they have proven themselves to be decent human beings.

I believe in partnership & teamwork

We had the same goals ultimately.

To stop people dying unnecessarily from Covid because it was too awful.

And the truth is the government were too slow to action.

@MattHancock @BorisJohnson

As time went on, I have developed a team with @HennaAnwar and Dr Valerie Ademiyose and Dr Glao Arl who joined me as admin of Healthcare Professionals Against Racism.

I chose them because they were smart and challenged and disagreed with me.

I don’t pretend to know everything

Because I really just am a normal GP. I’m just like the rest of you.

I’m trying to find the work-life balance.

I’m trying to balance the needs of my family.

I’m also worn down by the demands on service and anger at the new ways we have been working.

I too think appraisal needs a major overhaul.

I’m not a partner but I empathise with the stress of CQC. I hope to be a partner one day.

Anyway I shall wrap this essay up shortly

Part of my ongoing work has been connecting and stepping up so I have reconnected with @rcgp and I joined @BAPIOUK

And I have volunteered for the RCGP BAME taskforce.

In the past, I had imposter syndrome & I still do, but that’s just something to say hi to

Connecting with pre-existing networks is helping me to connect to a much larger team to achieve goals.

Because no one can do this alone.

Teamwork is a cliché but it’s true.

And ultimately, this is why I’ve stepped up for election for @rcgp council.

51% of GPs are BAME but the council does not reflect that #Diversity

So regardless of whether you vote for me or not, know this.

I have integrity. I speak my truth.

And that’s evidenced in my experience as a peer supporter and moderator in Breastfeeding for Doctors.

We are only trying to help Mums meet their personal goals and help them with grief if they can’t.

@milkymedics

I am not here to get a cushy new job.

I don’t want to live in London.

This is not about money.

It’s about lives. It’s about quality of life. No matter what you’re ethnicity is.

#BlackLivesMatter

Thank you.

Actually one final point.

WHITE ALLYSHIP has been one of the biggest gains from this.

My group has health professionals of all ethnicities confronting the monster of taught biases, systemic racism and working to improve for patients & colleagues...

And if that’s not transformation I don’t know what is.

And if you want proof, join us. Many people have commented that the group is changing Facebook’s algorithm for themselves and their connections.

The evidence is written by others in black & white. https://www.facebook.com/groups/560934171228298/?ref=share

Facebook Groups

https://www.facebook.com/groups/560934171228298/?ref=share

You can follow @TheBAMEGP.

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