The Project
We are a group of advocacy workers, refugee doctors and academics working to support refugee medical doctors who are recertifying their credentials and looking for employment in Northeast England (and beyond).
We are documenting the lived experiences of work of refugees who have been displaced and forced to find sanctuary in the UK.
We believe there is a moral, social, political and economic imperative to assist refugee professionals who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries.
GROUND, 2018 (one of three works, Ground, Sea and Sky)*
At a moment of escalating critical labour shortages and widening health inequalities, enabling refugee doctors to re-enter the workforce is both a humanitarian imperative and a practical response to regional and national healthcare pressures.
These are skilled professionals who (when permitted) are making critical contributions to the United Kingdom.
Refugees Care is important in key respects. Firstly, there is little existing knowledge concerning the long-term socio-economic integration and wellbeing of refugee health professionals in Northeast England; secondly, there is a gap in knowledge about the possible deskilling of refugee health professionals for whom there is no pathway to reaccreditation.
Our study is particularly significant as there has been little scholarly or media focus on the experiences of refugee health workers in Northeast England—a crucial region that, per capita, has the UK's highest concentration of dispersed asylum seekers, many of whom reside in areas of high economic deprivation.
Our objectives are three-fold. One, we will document 'best retraining practices' across the UK to evaluate and inform the programming of the project's community partner. Two, we are building a formal institutional partnership between community advocacy organisation, Newcastle University and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Three, we will create a documentary film offering powerful insight into the lives of refugee health professionals. This output will be circulated to substantively raise the public understanding of refugees in the UK. With accompanying public forums, the film will be screened in locations across the UK.
Supporting Measures in Place at Newcastle University
Occasional Student Post-Graduate Registration
REPOD members can apply to be registered as Occasional PGR Students within the School of Medicine at Newcastle University. This visiting status registers them with the University for a fixed period under a named academic host, embedding them in the School's academic community without the fees or commitments of a degree programme. Registration provides a university smartcard, IT account and email, and Eduroam WiFi access, along with entry to and borrowing rights at the University library and access to study spaces. The status opens access to the University's careers advice, student wellbeing, counselling services, and possible work opportunities. All registration fees have been waived, so the status is free to REPOD members.
North East Solidarity and Teaching Partnership
Through our partnership with N.E.S.T. (North East Solidarity and Teaching), part of Newcastle University Students' Union, refugee medical professionals can access a weekly study partner who is a medical student at Newcastle University. The study partner is not a teacher or a mentor; they are a fellow learner who will support refugees as they work through the OET/IELTS curriculum covered by REPOD, whether that means practising medical English, talking through course material, or preparing together. These weekly sessions are also a genuine exchange: student study partners will learn from refugees’ training, their professional experience, and knowledge of healthcare systems around the world. We hope these partnerships will grow into lasting connections within Newcastle's medical community.
NCL in Action
With NU Alumni Engagement, we have organised a mentoring programme connecting alumni medical graduates with refugee medical professionals in the Northeast. This focuses on delivering in-person and online mentoring through GMC registration, PLAB and speciality applications, as well as preparation for mock interviews and application feedback, orientation on NHS workplace culture and more. See: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ncl-in-action/career-development/medical-mentoring/
*Thread Bearing Witness project. Alice Kettle with contributions from Pipka/Lesvos Solidarity, Ahmad Ali, Somaya Hossaini, Yakob & many other residents at Calais refugee camp working with Suzanne Partridge; Nahomie Bukasa, Sahira Khan and Ai Ling with Linda Leroy at the Helen Bamber Foundation; Nisrin Albyrouty, Khouloud Alkurd, Heba Almnini, Heidi Ambruster, Marwa Ammar, Amal Ayoubi, Stella Charman, Susan Colverson, Jenny Cuffe, Lama Hamami, Miriam Jones, Asmaa, Ruth le Mesurier, Vanessa Rolf, Samar Sobeih, Chaymae Yousfi & many children from English Chat Winchester; Farhia Ahmed Ali, Nawad Hersi Duale, Amran Mohamud Ismail with Refugee Action working with artists Jenny Eden and Richard Harris; Julie Firman, Victoria Hartley, Louise Jung, Susan Kamara, Sam.
Various threads and life jacket material on printed canvas
3m x 8m
Photos: Joe Low
All images are subject to copyright Alice Kettle.
