General practice is disproportionately non-white, and GPs will be feeling the effects of these riots as much as anyone, argues editor Jaimie Kaffash
Last week was one of the busiest weeks in terms of policy that we’ve seen for a while. We saw the closing of the ballot, the announcement of collective action, the promise of a pay rise for all GPs and practice staff and the addition of GPs to the ARRS.
But for a sizeable percentage of GPs, these issues pale into insignificance this week. Around a third of GPs are non-white and, if they are anything like me, they will have one story on their mind – the rioting targeted at ethnic minorities.
I myself am mixed heritage, with a father from Egypt, who was raised a Muslim. I’ve never felt my skin colour more than I do right now. But for me, I go into my office or work from home, not having to encounter any of these rioters.
GPs and their staff of colour don’t have this luxury. Having to close early for fear of their own safety and taking taxis home is the most obvious consequence of this. But there are more subtle ways it will affect them. They will be aware of their skin colour in a sizeable number of consultations with patients who, deep down, feel they don’t really belong. They’ll be aware of it when they receive spurious complaints, or the number of veiled comments they receive daily from patients, or requests for a white doctor, or that the doctor didn’t speak proper English
I despise the classism that often seeps into this debate – bringing up the perceived lower status jobs of the rioters compared with the successful professionals they are targeting. People of colour shouldn’t need to be in a ‘worthy’ profession to prove themselves, and jobs don’t define someone’s moral character.
That said, the very nature of general practice does make it all the more reprehensible that some are having to take such drastic actions. Good general practice is based on relationships with patients and trust. How can non-white GPs be expected to build these relationships with thugs who see them as subhuman? It is a measure of the professionalism of GPs that – unlike me – they don’t generally ask ‘why’ they should be expected to treat such patients.
Thankfully, the numbers of people involved in the actual rioting are small. But there is still a worrying amount of sympathy among politicians and the media for the rioters’ ‘legitimate concerns’. Let’s get this straight – there are hundreds of legitimate concerns out there that have left people with a sense of hopelessness. Austerity, the underfunding of all public services (including general practice), the removal of financial safety nets, the growing gap between the richest and poorest in society, the decimation of employment in some towns. GPs, as the most accessible public servants, know about these more than anyone.
But, for political expediency, these genuine legitimate concerns have been deprioritised in favour of demonising immigrants. This violence is just the most extreme manifestation of a broader societal trend. I was shocked when I saw last year that Department of Health and Social Care press officers had a ‘stop the boats’ message in their government-mandated email signatures. The BBC has a designated reporter to count the number of small boats crossing the channel. The litany of anti-Muslim rhetoric across the national papers should shame us all. The main political parties were falling over themselves to show how tough they were on immigration. And there is the tiniest of steps to go from demonising immigrants to demonising anyone of colour (don’t forget, these riots were started following the murder of three schoolgirls by a British-born citizen).
Now we have ended up at non-white people being attacked in the street, hotels set on fire with people inside, citizens advice bureaus being burnt down and GP surgeries having to shut for the safety of their staff.
I realise that, for some, this blog has only a tangential link to general practice. There will be consequences, however. The majority of GP trainees are now international medical graduates. The current environment is hardly welcoming, and who would be surprised if many of them decided to practise overseas.
But the truth is, I can’t imagine writing about any other subject right now. This creeping fascism, and its appeasement, will have an impact on everyone and everything.
Jaimie Kaffash is editor of Pulse. Follow him on X @jkaffash or email him at editor@pulsetoday.co.uk
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Jaimie – thank you for understanding and writing about how it feels to be a non-white or Jewish GP right now.
I am about to fly back home to England after leave and I can’t believe what has been unfolding in the news.
It is both a worrying and emotional time for many of us right now
On hols so quick note. Thanks for sharing, Jamie. The great British public won’t stand for this Nazi terrorist rioting sh*t bankrolled by oligarchs who have no interest in our, or any, country except to create chaos and disorder so they can exploit it financially. It’s the new application of Friedman’s neoliberal capital-worshipping playbook. But what these nutjobs don’t realise is that when the silent majority’patience is exhausted and they feel their unique and powerful British sense of fairness is being taken advantage of, then the majority will rise (like Hobbits or Ewoks, and as in ww2 against the evil Nazi empire) and put these nutters in their proper place – blubbering in the courthouse!