After reports of Islamophobia inside the ruling Conservative party, in one case costing a minister her job, as well as in the precincts of Parliament, now the National Health Service has been characterised as “riddled with racism”.
Dr Jagadish Nanjappa, a respiratory physician of Indian origin, says that as a trainee doctor in the UK in 2012, he was frequently belittled by his supervisor, shouted at, made to repeat his training and not shortlisted for available positions.
“My wife could sense that something not right was going on,” he told the BBC. “This was the first time she had seen me cry. It was hard, really hard.”
Dr Nanjappa now lives in Dubai and who can blame him?
Around 40 per cent of the Health Service’s 123,000 doctors are from minority backgrounds, compared to about 14 per cent of the general population. Yet despite this diversity, doctors say there is a toxic “us versus them” culture in NHS hospitals across the country.
A survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) found that 75 per cent of ethnic minority doctors experienced racism more than once in the last two years, while 17 per cent said they faced such attitudes regularly.
Nearly three-quarters of non-white doctors suffered racism during that time but did not report it because they did not believe their complaints would be properly investigated; 20 per cent quit their jobs or considered leaving.
The problem doesn’t just affect only juniors. An Asian surgeon, Sheena, said that even as a consultant, she faced discrimination.
“You experience it in every hospital,” she said. “I always felt we had to do 200 times more to get where we were than our English colleagues.”
Since physicians from minority backgrounds constitute such a large percentage of the Health Service’s doctors, it is clear the nation’s health would be at serious risk if many other Asian and African doctors decided to follow the example of Dr Nanjappa.
Commenting on the survey, the chair of the BMA, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, promised a “zero-tolerance approach” to racism and affirmed that anyone working for the NHS had a moral right to be treated fairly.
A wider report on the situation is due to be released in April, when the BMA will suggest changes to tackle the problem.
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Speculation as to whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s participation in parties during the lockdown, including one for his birthday, will eventually cost him office continues to dominate the media.
A rather different view of the situation was offered by a certain C. Jackson of Newcastle upon Tyne in this letter to the local paper:
“My son had the catalytic converter stolen from his car. The car park was covered by two separate CCTV cameras. The police said they didn’t have the time or resources to investigate or even bother watching the CCTV. They told him to contact his insurer.
“His car was written off and his insurance increased due to a claim.
“I also read recently that the police only solve about five per cent of burglaries. Yet they seem to have unlimited resources, time and are willing to investigate whether Boris Johnson had some cake on his birthday.
“I simply despair.”
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Going on safari in Africa, walking along the Great Wall of China and travelling on the Orient Express are three of the post-Covid holidays most desired by British people. Nearly half of 2,000 adults questioned told researchers that the pandemic had made them more open to trying new experiences and 62 per cent said they now intend to visit new destinations instead of their usual vacation spots.
A spokesman for Covid test provider Medicspot, which commissioned the poll, said, “The pandemic has made us realise how important it is to stop thinking about trips and start doing them.”
Seeing the Northern Lights and driving on America’s famed Route 66 are other important ambitions.
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Reading about actors last week, I came across this anecdote:
Before she became famous, the British actress Judi Dench appeared in a play with actor Ian McKellan. She was very nervous about the first night and said, “I will just imagine that three seats in the front row are occupied by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.” To which McKellan replied, “Should they not all be in one seat?”
Which leads me to: An old lady in church prayed to the Lord, “Life has been hard lately. You have taken my favourite actor, Sidney Poitier, my favourite actress, Cicely Tyson, and my favourite singer, Meat Loaf. I’d just like you to know that my favourite former president is Donald Trump.”
And finally: George Washington could not tell a lie. Donald Trump could not tell the truth. Boris Johnson cannot tell the difference. BY DAILY NATION