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18 the association caring for the nhs by Nagendra Sarmah I CAME TO England in July 1965. Coming from the Indian subcontinent, I was excited to work in an English hospital but I was also apprehensive. My first experience of the NHS started in Nantwich, a rural Cheshire town, where I joined as a Senior House Officer (SHO) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G). I soon found my feet and felt confident as my Consultant praised my command of English and my patients were happy with my bedside manner. Working in an NHS hospital was hard; I had to work 120 hours per week, and long weekends starting on a Friday afternoon until Monday morning. After working for nearly two years for the South Cheshire group of hospitals, I moved to Manchester. One posting was as ‘in 60s & 70s there were few Black and Asian consultants’ SHO at Wythenshawe Maternity Hospital. This was a teaching hospital but my job was not easier. I recall situations such as being left in charge for a long weekend with only the help of two medical students to cover the 84-bed Maternity Unit and 25-bed Gynae unit. During the sixties and seventies, it was very difficult for an Asian doctor to get a senior position in a hospital and there were very few Black and Asian consultants. I always remember how the future of my career depended on just one consultant´s reference. Today, globalisation and ease of travel have changed that and the UK´s ethnic composition has obviously changed from the sixties. Back to the sixties and I could not get a registrar post in O&G in Wythenshawe. So I changed my speciality to Anaesthesia and move to Bolton but soon returned to O&G. I moved to Liverpool in the seventies, but there were no married quarters, and, by then, my wife and I had two small children. So, the time had come for me to end my hospital career and join General Practice to settle down. In the sixties and seventies, a doctor was a respected figure of the community and it was a highly regarded profession. Now, I am not so sure. Today, I believe a doctor is more of a service commodity in a more litigious society with a doctor-bashing culture. It was April 1972 when I had my first experience of General Practice – starting out in the Potteries, in Trentham, Stoke on Trent. But when I saw a vacancy in South Manchester, I was keen to go back to the city. This, I thought, should be my final move. I was responsible for 3,300 patients 24 hours a day. I found General Practice very interesting, especially in the community aspect as I was aware that my role was valuable to patients and their families—I even did home deliveries on request. In spite of some health problems, I continued to work steadfastly, including taking out-of-hours emergency calls up to 10pm. After a successful career, I decided to retire in June 2001. This was a very sad moment for me but in view of my health situation and my wife´s desire for me to retire, I had to say “goodbye” to the NHS, albeit with sadness. ‘GP contracts remain an unhappy issue for the NHS’ I had seen a lot of changes in the NHS from the time of Kenneth Robinson and Sir Keith Joseph (the then Health Secretaries) to the time I retired. I still remember Sir Kenneth’s reorganisation of the Health Service, including the imposition of the government´s new contract on GPs. This created unhappiness among hospitals and most GPs did not approve of the new contract. And today we see GP contracts are still an unhappy area for the NHS. Do I have regrets for working in the NHS? I enjoyed my career, and am proud of my continual service of care, but I regret that people in authority and Government not showing this same care. I devoted my time to the care of my patients but in doing so did not find sufficient time to spend with my family. This I regret now.
the association 19 uaauk charity works by Manju Barkataki It was 1979, a year that Assam was going through a very turbulent period. The student movement was going from strength to strength and Assam responded to their call of “AAHOi AAH ULAIi AAh”. The Non-Resident Assamese population in Britain also could not ignore that call and extended their hand. As a result the Assam Association of the UK was born towards the later part of 1979 – the forerunner to the Association that we know today. At that time, Assam was a very remote place for the rest of the world. News travelled at a snail’s pace. Communication through telephone or newspapers from Assam was very poor. News from Assam reached the outside world very slowly and sometimes incorrect news was being broadcast or published. In the very beginning, the main aim of the Association was to give a real picture of the situation of Assam to the outside world and to support the cause of the people. This especially came to light after The Nellie Massacre took place in 1983. Thousands of locals were slaughtered across 14 villages of the Nagaon district and yet the BBC World Service did not get the accurate information and gave some negative publicity. After an incorrect broadcast, a delegation from the Assam Association went to the BBC and a special reporter Prakash Mirchandani was sent to Assam to assess the real situation. ‘I urge members to help Assam with an open heart’ As the movement gathered momentum, the Assam Association sent some token money to support the student movement from time to time. Later on, when the student movement took a political turn, the Assam Association here felt it could not follow and turned into a non-political charitable organisation. In 1999, the Assam Association took a new name and became United Assam Association of UK (Uaauk) The Uaauk is a special organisation which unites like-minded people of all generations who have a link with Assam. A two-day annual event organised by the Association brings the whole community under one roof as one family. Besides sponsoring and giving a platform to an upcoming young artist from Assam each year, the Association raises and donates money for a variety of causes across Assam. At first, the Association raised money after natural disasters in Assam – mainly for the annual flood situation. As the Association did not receive any response from the Authorities about the donations sent, the members decided to support and donate directly to affordable causes of individuals and/ or small organisations. Though the Association is a very small organisation it makes a difference. And I urge all members to try to help and support causes from Assam with an open heart. Long live Uaauk. examples of the association’s charitable works 1997 – 1998 Donation was made to a selfhelp group of women to buy sewing machine in Guwahati through the Association of the Inner Wheel 1999—2000 Donation was made to Red Cross, Assam Branch 2001—2002 A donation was sent to Assam Sishu Sadan Trust, an orphanage in Guwahati 2002—2003 Donation sent to Eye Camp in Assam 2008—2009 After the bomb blasts in Guwahati, a donation was made to UK-based charity Just For Assam that organised the rehabilitation of five families 2008—2009 Money was raised for a special cardiac pacemaker for a young girl 2010 Money was raised for a kidney transplant for young mother Mrs Ipsita Sarma 2012 Donation was made towards a wheel chair for young girl Miss Silsila Das in Sishu Sarothi, Guwahati
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