£0.00

No products in the basket.

17 July 2025

Subscribe

£0.00

No products in the basket.

How refugee NHS doctors are saving lives across Greater Manchester

From Palestine, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Syria and beyond, meet the refugees who now save lives every day in the NHS.

Save for later
- Advertisement -

In modern Britain, the immense contributions of refugees to society are too often overlooked, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the NHS.

This Refugee Week (16th to the 22nd June 2025), Greater Manchester is celebrating extraordinary journeys, from surviving unimaginable hardship to rebuilding lives filled with hope.

Across the North West, refugee and asylum seeker doctors, many of whom fled war, persecution, and unimaginable trauma, are now part of the very backbone of the NHS.

They are not only rebuilding their own lives, but actively healing others, contributing their expertise to the communities that gave them sanctuary.

Greater Manchester’s amazing refugee doctors

“When people see me now in scrubs, they don’t realise that not long ago, I was undocumented. An ‘illegal doctor’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue,” said Dr Rula Hamad, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, now training as a GP in Salford. (pictured in header image)

Born a refugee to refugee parents and grandparents, Rula fled Syria during the war, leaving her anaesthesia training behind.

Alone, injured and grieving, she arrived in the UK simply trying to survive.

“But the moment I felt even a little safe,” she recalled, “my very next breath was filled with the need to return to medicine. Because being a doctor isn’t what I do, it’s who I am.”

Rula’s turning point came when she discovered REACHE (Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education), a unique North West programme supported by NHS England that offers refugee doctors a way back into the NHS.

With its support, she began not only reclaiming her profession but also her sense of purpose.

Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education

“REACHE was my sun,” said Rula. “They didn’t just offer classes. They gave me food, housing support, therapy, and, most of all, hope. They understood that trauma doesn’t pause for exams.”

Now, as a GP trainee and REACHE’s Alumni Liaison Officer, Rula helps others walk the path she once did. “My mission is simple: to be the voice that said, I see you. I’ve been there. You’re not alone. No one should have to rebuild their life alone.”

Starting life anew in Manchester

Dr Hujjat Ashori was an emergency medicine doctor in Afghanistan before seeking refuge in the UK.

Today, he works as a Clinical Fellow in the Stroke Department at Salford Royal Hospital, one of the country’s leading stroke centres.

“REACHE to me means hope,” said Hujjat, now living in Fallowfield.

“They didn’t just prepare me academically, they gave me a community. Understanding the NHS, its systems and expectations was daunting. REACHE bridged that gap.”

He now looks to the future with confidence, aiming to specialise in cardiology, bringing together his acute care background and a passion for long-term patient wellbeing.

From Ethiopia to Manchester

Dr Feven Kenea

For Dr Feven Kenea, REACHE opened the doors to reclaiming her career. A junior doctor in Ethiopia, she joined REACHE in 2022 and is now working in the NHS.

“REACHE made it possible for me to be where I am today,” she said from her new home in Salford. “Their team kept reminding me that there was light at the end of the tunnel, and now I can see that light.”

How REACHE is changing lives

Since its founding over two decades ago, REACHE has helped 788 refugee healthcare professionals, including 600 doctors, return to clinical practice. Today, 323 doctors have registered with the GMC, with many more training to become GPs, nurses, pharmacists, radiographers, and dentists.

“Exam passes alone don’t define success,” said Dr Aisha Awan, Director of REACHE North West. “We provide language support, clinical training, cultural orientation and, critically, pastoral care. That holistic approach is what changes lives.”

Chris Cutts, Regional Director of Workforce, Training and Education for NHS England in the North West, adds: “REACHE is a beacon of what’s possible when we support people with compassion and opportunity. Its impact stretches beyond the NHS, it touches families, communities, and futures.”

Celebrating the incredible NHS

The often hard-fought journeys of these incredible doctors remind us that when given the chance, those who arrive with nothing can give everything.

This Refugee Week, let’s celebrate the courage it takes to start over and the power of a community that makes healing possible, together.

Find out more about Refugee Week

You can find out more about Refugee Week by clicking here

- Advertisement -

Top 5 This Week

Related Posts