Dear Colleagues
We wish to show our support to all colleagues in relation to the dreadful scenes of violence and hatred that have unfolded in towns and cities across the country. We have been deeply disturbed and appalled by these events, which have impacted our neighbouring communities, where many of us live or have friends, family and colleagues.
With violent unrest so close to home, we are aware that colleagues throughout our organisations may be feeling anxious, even scared for their safety.
We want to send a clear message from Medical Education Leaders UK Council that every single member of MEL UK or working with us to champion healthcare education is a valued member of our organisation and our wider community. We celebrate our diversity and those of the educators, trainees and wider education teams with whom we work, and we will support those who are concerned about or who experience any form of abuse, discrimination or violence from any source.
Importantly, this means standing shoulder to shoulder with each other and speaking up against intolerance and racism whenever we encounter it. There are lots of ways you can do this including speaking to a manager or a trusted colleague, or the Freedom to Speak Up team in your trust, together with support from one of our MEL UK representatives or council officers.
There are also external organisations that can provide support; including SHOUT which is a text service that can help if you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, Stop Hate UK which offers support to victims of hate crime and Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI) which offers a free and confidential casework service for victims of hate crime and incidents for anyone who faces or witnesses hate crime or incidents.
At this time, it is more important than ever that we care for each other and work together to ensure that medical education and the wider NHS community remains a safe place.
