Black History Month 2023

“October is Black History Month and we welcome it as an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of black anaesthetists to the specialty and the NHS. This year’s theme is ‘Saluting Our Sisters’, in recognition of the fact that the many achievements of black women are too often overlooked.  

“Over the course of the month, we will share profiles of some of our members whose achievements and perspectives we want to champion. We value the diversity of our membership and we want to amplify your voices.”  

Dr Fiona Donald, President

Share your experience

If you would like to share your experiences as a black anaesthetist by writing a blog to share with the wider membership then we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Rachel Yeager on ryeager@rcoa.ac.uk.

Or if you are a member posting on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, either about your own experience or saluting a friend or colleague, then please tag @RCoANews in your post and we will share it with our wider membership on social media.  

Equality, diversity and inclusion

At the College, we are committed to supporting our fellows, members and staff from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and to addressing inequalities within our specialty. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee leads our work in this area, aligned to our core value of justice and fairness.

As Dr Sethina Watson highlighted in her video for Black History Month 2022, we need to have an NHS workforce that reflects the patients that we serve, yet black people are underrepresented in anaesthesia, with GMC data showing that only 1.5% of anaesthetists identify as ‘Black or Black British’. 

We want to see this number increase and one way in which we are taking action is through GasReach, our partnership with the Widening Participation Medics Network (WPMN) which aims to increase diversity within anaesthesia. GasReach is a mentoring scheme which pairs current anaesthetists in training (who hold the FRCA) with medical students and Foundation doctors from underrepresented backgrounds who want to progress their careers in anaesthesia. You can find out more about the scheme, including how to express an interest in becoming a mentor on our GasReach page.

Our response to the GMC’s report on tackling disadvantage in medical education includes more information on our work to address such disadvantage within anaesthesia.

Resources

We have shared some of our relevant resources below. In addition, members might find the following events and resources from other organisations of interest: 

• Saluting our Sisters - Black Women in the NHS. A series of Black History Month events hosted Instinctive Inclusion and taking place 4-19 October 2023
• The Black History Month website includes a wide range of resources, events and content. 
• Race Equality Matters have shared a series of short videos on why the theme 'Saluting Our Sisters' is so important. There is also a downloadable resource containing 78 ideas and insights for Black History Month activities. 

If you have suggestions for resources we might add to the list, please let us know.