1 week Ago
NHS doctor and founder of the aid agency Dr Ang Swee Chai was scheduled to speak at the annual Medical Students Conference being held in London on Friday, April 4. However, BMA cancelled her invitation with 48-hour notice and gave no clear reason for doing so when pressed by Swee Chai and her team. Swee Chai, 76, is an orthopaedic surgeon who survived the Sabra-Shatila massacre in 1982 during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
She later founded Medical Aid for Palestinians, where she has volunteered ever since, alongside her forty-eight-year career as a regular NHS doctor. READ MORE: I 'm a director at Medical Aid for Palestinians. This is why we need your help When asked for further clarity on the reasons why this decision was made, the BMA said the new agenda had already been finalised, and it would not be feasible for Swee Chai to speak, without providing any further elaboration.
Swee Chai now intends to give her prepared speech in front of BMA House, ahead of the slot that she was meant to be speaking at 12 pm. Swee Chai said: "I was invited to speak to medical students, after all, they are the doctors of the future. And yet, the institution that claims to represent them is shutting down free speech and ignoring their wishes on who they wish to hear from.
READ MORE: Pro-Palestine protester 'attacked with a blade' at Scottish University "My message is one of peace and humanity, not divisiveness. I am committed to my British patients in the NHS and my Palestinian patients through MAP for the same reasons, a duty of care towards their wellbeing. "What sort of example an organisation is setting when it lets pernicious politics interfere with a message of caring for one’s patients?”.
She will also be speaking a day later at Bart’s Royal London Hospital, where she was the first female orthopaedic consultant appointed in its 900-year history. The event will take place at the Milton Lecture Theatre on April 5, at the National Orthopaedic Conference 2025. The BMA has been contacted for comment.
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