This site is intended for health professionals only


GP practices to close early amid fears of being caught up in racist riots

GP practices to close early amid fears of being caught up in racist riots

GP surgeries in North East London will close early tomorrow as they fear for staff and patients’ safety after learning of planned racist rioting in the area.

In other parts of the country, local GP leaders are working with their ICB to develop action plans and ‘escalation measures’ for practices who experience unrest and rioting in their area.

The Firs Medical Centre and St James Medical Practice in Walthamstow, London, said that they have been alerted by the police and local authorities of ‘threatened disruption’ on Wednesday.

And, in a message to patients, they said that ‘to ensure that staff and patients are safe’, they will be closing early.

The message said: ‘Waltham Forest Local Authority and the police are planning for threatened disruption on Wednesday (7 August 2024), this is expected during the evening in the Hoe Street area, there appears to be plans to target the Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau.

‘To ensure that our staff and patients are safe we will be closing the surgery at 5.30pm tomorrow. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this uncertain time and apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.’

Waltham Forest Council Deputy Leader Cllr Clyde Loakes said: ‘We have seen claims that a protest has been organised in our area. We are working with the Metropolitan Police to verify the information, and we will respond together in close partnership if it is accurate.

‘Extra patrols have already been put into place, and we will be working with our community organisations to reach out to mosques and places of worship to provide reassurance. The safety and wellbeing of our residents is always our top priority.’

Following online misinformation about last week’s Southport attack where three young girls were murdered, racists have rioted across the country.

Londonwide LMCs said in a statement: ‘We are aware of reports that practices are being advised by local authorities and police to close early and/or take precautions to protect staff and patients.

‘We do not know for certain if this unrest is going to impact on our London practices, but would strongly advise practices to consider what actions they may need to take if these incidents were to spread to your area.’

The LMC added that it ‘will be writing to your ICB on your behalf so that they are aware of actions practices may need to take, which could include early closing of practices or changes to how services are delivered’.

Elsewhere in the country, South Staffordshire LMC chair Dr Manu Agrawal told Pulse that he has an ’emergency meeting’ with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB today.

‘We will discuss what can be put in place in terms of escalation measures that practices can take if it does come to their doorstep, whether that’s remote working or how we deal with home visits,’ he said.

Humberside LMC chief executive Dr Zoe Norris said it is ‘very live’ and ‘very scary’ at the moment, and she has been advising practices in Hull, where there were riots on Sunday evening.

She told Pulse: ‘I’ve had contact from practices in North Lincolnshire who have closed because there was a gathering planned to take place in the city centre near them. And so I’ve just been in touch with the ICB to try and get a sort of immediate action plan.’

Article continues below this sponsored advert
Cogora InRead Image
Still need to gain CPD before the year is out? Sign up for the next Pulse 365 Virtual conference and receive up to 10.5 CPD hours for your portfolio plus brush up your skills across a huge range of clinical topics
Advertisement

Dr Norris highlighted that often the riots are not ‘planned demonstrations’ with police permission, so practices can be taken by surprise.

‘A practice might open completely fine in the morning, and suddenly in the afternoon, there’s a gathering of people nearby the practice with masks on their faces starting to kick off,’ she said.

Yesterday, the RCGP said that GPs and their staff, ‘especially those from ethnic minorities’, have been ‘targeted with abuse and violence’, advising GP teams to ‘remain vigilant’ when travelling to and from work.

And the British Islamic Medical Association said it has heard ‘over the last few days’ from ‘many of our members who have felt scared and been threatened’.

One BIMA member said: ‘As a visibly Muslim woman I feel unsafe. Seeing racists and Islamophobes emboldened like this is scary. I now worry about my safety every day that I am on the frontline. It could be a patient, or worse, a colleague.’

Tower Hamlets GP Dr Selva Selvarajah told Pulse that Muslim colleagues are ‘worried about coming to GP practices wearing visible clothings that display their faith’ and that a colleague reported her Muslim registrar ‘being very tearful’.

He added: ‘Colleagues are frightened. Islamophobia is driving a lot of riots we are seeing currently, it is not acceptable for our fellow citizens to be live in fear.’

Bradford GP trainer Dr Amir Khan said that Muslim GP trainees at his practice were scared to do home visits ‘for fear of their safety’.

In a post on X, he said: ‘Today my Muslim GP trainees were scared to do home visits to our vulnerable housebound patients for fear of their safety, but they put patients first and did them anyway.’

In Chesterfield, the local GP training programme wrote to its GP registrars to ‘acknowledge the significant and distressing challenges’ that ethnic minority doctors are currently facing.

‘Recent events have brought to light the troubling rise in Islamophobia and far-right extremism, which have not only targeted Muslim communities and those with ethnic minority heritage but also created an unsafe and hostile environment for many healthcare professionals,’ their message said.

They went on to urge GP registrars to report any instances of racism and to ask for support should they need it.

Commenting on ‘appalling’ threats of violence against doctors, MDDUS chief executive Chris Kenny said: ‘Healthcare workers from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who qualified overseas and are registered to practise here are part of the backbone of the NHS.

‘We stand on the side of everyone working at the frontline of healthcare. We are appalled to hear of healthcare workers being targeted with abuse and violence amidst the civil unrest and rioting in recent days.

‘There is no excuse or justification for what has been happening on our streets. All healthcare workers deserve to go to work in safety and without fear of racist abuse or attack.

‘The whole NHS leadership must now demonstrate that everyone working in healthcare is welcome and valued and that the anger and violence we have witnessed will not prevail.’

Pulse Writing Competition 2024

Fancy yourself as the next Pulse blogger? Enter our writing competition now!

Pulse Writing Competition 2024

          

READERS' COMMENTS [3]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

Davinder Sidhuu 6 August, 2024 9:11 pm

How has this got anything to do with article? What are you trying to imply?!

Dr Who 6 August, 2024 9:16 pm

DH , what are you trying to imply ?

Pulse Writing Competition 2024

Fancy yourself as the next Pulse blogger? Enter our writing competition now!

Pulse Writing Competition 2024