Black History Month 2022

The Royal College of Anaesthetists welcomes Black History Month as an opportunity to celebrate the huge contribution of black anaesthetists and other healthcare workers to the NHS throughout its 74-year history.  

We value the rich diversity of our membership and recognise that black healthcare workers are a fundamental part of our specialty, our College and our community. October provides us with the opportunity to celebrate Black History Month and reflect upon what more the College can do to support the theme of Time for change: actions not words. 

There are almost 80,000 black people working in the NHS, representing over 6% of the total NHS workforce, with just under 6,000 in medical roles, including anaesthetists at all levels. We would like to know more about our black members’ experiences so that we can support and celebrate them. 

We would like to celebrate Black History Month and showcase our members while we do this. If you are a black anaesthetist, we would love to hear your story. We would like to know what Black History Month means to you. Would you like to share reflections on your own journey? If so, we are inviting contributions in a number of ways:  

• Video clips of your personal reflections (up to two minutes). If you film these on your phone or device, please use landscape mode.  

• A short written piece for our website (up to 300 words). If you would like to write a longer piece, then get in touch and we can discuss a blog post.  

We will share contributions on our website and social media during Black History Month.  We will also release a Black History Month episode of Anaesthesia on Air at the end of October. 

If you are sending written pieces or video clips then please include a photo, as well as your name, job role and Twitter handle (if you have one). All contributions can be sent to Frances Bright at fbright@rcoa.ac.uk.  

“The Royal College of Anaesthetists values the diversity of our members and our specialty. During Black History Month, we would like to highlight the experiences of black anaesthetists working in the UK today so that we can support and celebrate them.” 

Fiona Donald, President