The Doctor podcast

Welcome to The Doctor podcast, brought to you by the British Medical Association. Each month, we bring you conversations inspired by stories featured in The Doctor magazine written by our multiple award-winning team. We cover all the issues facing the profession, from pay, terms and conditions to art therapy, climate change, recruitment and retention, industrial action and much more. Our episodes are posted monthly, so follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, to be the first to find out when a new episode drops.

A medical environment can be overwhelming for any patient but to those who are neurodivergent, the sensory challenges involved can be enough to put them off obtaining the healthcare they need.

In recognition of the barriers to care faced by these patients, some doctors are attempting to change the way medical treatment in their workplaces are delivered in an effort to become more inclusive and effective.

Welcome to the sixth episode of The Doctor podcast, brought to you by the British Medical Association.

In this episode, Giles Armstrong and Sarah Davis discuss their efforts to make the NHS more accessible for autistic patients. 

They share personal experiences, insights, and practical steps they have taken to improve healthcare, including enrolling their workplaces in a specialised award scheme provided by the National Autistic Society.

This episode builds on the feature article ‘Sensory overload – making the NHS more accessible for autistic patients', by Tim Tonkin.

You don’t need to have read the article to enjoy this episode but if you’d like to do so, you can find it here

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also be interested in the following articles, on related topics:

• More than able
• The other, lesser health service

For more information on the organisations mentioned in this episode see below:

• National Autistic Society
• Oliver McGowan Training

Listen to this episode using the audio player below, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For more stories from The Doctor, follow @TheDrMagazine on X/Twitter, or visit thedoctor.bma.org.uk  

Read a transcript of the podcast

When emergency medicine consultant Jonny Acheson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nine years ago, it came as a huge shock. As for many NHS professionals living with the condition, a stressful job meant that he hadn’t recognised in himself symptoms he had seen in patients with Parkinson’s.

Welcome to the fifth episode of The Doctor podcast, brought to you by the British Medical Association. Each month, we bring you conversations inspired by stories featured in The Doctor magazine. In this episode, which builds on the feature article ‘No one knows about tomorrow' by Seren Boyd, Dr Acheson is joined by retired old-age psychiatrist Richard Prettyman to discuss what it’s like to live and work with the condition. They talk openly about their frustrations and feelings, about some common misconceptions around Parkinson’s – and about their determination to live well. 

Listen to this episode using the audio player below, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Read a transcript of the podcast

'How can you treat a person and ignore the climate?'

Retired GPs Diana Warner and Sarah Benn see their climate activism as inextricable from their duty as doctors to safeguard human life. They have been convicted and imprisoned for their climate activism.

Dr Warner blocked traffic on the M25 with the environmental activist group Insulate Britain in 2021 and Dr Benn participated in Just Stop Oil protests at an oil terminal in 2022.

Their convictions led to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service suspending them from the medical register.

Dr Warner and Dr Benn come together in this episode to discuss why they feel direct action is necessary and how doctors and institutions can do their part.

Listen to this episode using the audio player below, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Read a transcript of the podcast

This episode builds on reporting by Ben Ireland on doctors participating in direct climate action. You can read some of it here:

• Moral duty
• 2-000 signature petition calls for gmc to reverse suspensions of climate activist doctors
• Environmental activist gp has licence suspended after blocking traffic on m25
• Another doctor to appear before mpts hearing following environmental activism
• BMA supports dr Benn with appeal to high court  
• Climate activist doctor's appeal against suspension dismissed
• BMA votes to protect medical professionals from GMC sanctions for activism  

Throughout its history, the NHS has depended on overseas staff, including IMGs (international medical graduates), who come from around the world to care for patients. In this episode, Somto Ogbuagu, Lisa Rampersad and Marvee Zakaria discuss their experiences, insights and advice for other IMGs – from the difficulties of being far from family during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the difference in workplace culture and the shock of the British weather.

Listen to this episode using the audio player below on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

This episode builds on the feature article ‘From all corners’, by Tim Tonkin.

Read a transcript of the podcast

Art is one of the many tools that doctors can use to help heal and treat patients. Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Sabina Dosani has experienced this, on both sides of the stethoscope. Art psychotherapist and clinical research fellow Megan Tjasink has been studying how art therapy can help healthcare professionals suffering with burnout, with promising findings. They bring together their perspectives in this conversation.

Listen to this episode using the audio player below, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode builds on the feature article ‘Life in Colour’, by Tim Tonkin

Read a transcript of the podcast