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Dr Feven Kenea<\/p>\nIn modern Britain, the immense contributions of refugees to society are too often overlooked, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the NHS.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
They are not only rebuilding their own lives, but actively healing others, contributing their expertise to the communities that gave them sanctuary.<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester\u2019s amazing refugee doctors<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people see me now in scrubs, they don\u2019t realise that not long ago, I was undocumented. An \u2018illegal doctor\u2019 doesn\u2019t exactly roll off the tongue,\u201d said Dr Rula Hamad, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, now training as a GP in Salford. (pictured in header image)<\/p>\n
Born a refugee to refugee parents and grandparents, Rula fled Syria during the war, leaving her anaesthesia training behind.<\/p>\n
Alone, injured and grieving, she arrived in the UK simply trying to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the moment I felt even a little safe,\u201d she recalled, \u201cmy very next breath was filled with the need to return to medicine. Because being a doctor isn\u2019t what I do, it\u2019s who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rula\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
With its support, she began not only reclaiming her profession but also her sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education<\/p>\n
\u201cREACHE was my sun,\u201d said Rula. \u201cThey didn\u2019t just offer classes. They gave me food, housing support, therapy, and, most of all, hope. They understood that trauma doesn\u2019t pause for exams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, as a GP trainee and REACHE\u2019s Alumni Liaison Officer, Rula helps others walk the path she once did. \u201cMy mission is simple: to be the voice that said, I see you. I\u2019ve been there. You\u2019re not alone. No one should have to rebuild their life alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting life anew in Manchester<\/p>\n
Dr Hujjat Ashori was an emergency medicine doctor in Afghanistan before seeking refuge in the UK.<\/p>\n
Today, he works as a Clinical Fellow in the Stroke Department at Salford Royal Hospital, one of the country\u2019s leading stroke centres.<\/p>\n
\u201cREACHE to me means hope,\u201d said Hujjat, now living in Fallowfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t just prepare me academically, they gave me a community. Understanding the NHS, its systems and expectations was daunting. REACHE bridged that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
From Ethiopia to Manchester
\nDr Feven Kenea<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cREACHE made it possible for me to be where I am today,\u201d she said from her new home in Salford. \u201cTheir team kept reminding me that there was light at the end of the tunnel, and now I can see that light.\u201d<\/p>\n
How REACHE is changing lives<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cExam passes alone don\u2019t define success,\u201d said Dr Aisha Awan, Director of REACHE North West. \u201cWe provide language support, clinical training, cultural orientation and, critically, pastoral care. That holistic approach is what changes lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Cutts, Regional Director of Workforce, Training and Education for NHS England in the North West, adds: \u201cREACHE is a beacon of what\u2019s possible when we support people with compassion and opportunity. Its impact stretches beyond the NHS, it touches families, communities, and futures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celebrating the incredible NHS<\/p>\n
The often hard-fought journeys of these incredible doctors remind us that when given the chance, those who arrive with nothing can give everything.<\/p>\n
This Refugee Week, let\u2019s celebrate the courage it takes to start over and the power of a community that makes healing possible, together.<\/p>\n
Find out more about Refugee Week<\/p>\n