Pride in medicine: LGBTQ+ healthcare day

Professor Dinesh Bhugra CBE is the current President of the BMA Council. 

He is Emeritus Professor of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London and honorary consultant at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. 

He was President of the World Psychiatric Association from 2014-2017 and in 2017 became President-Elect of the British Medical Association.  

Dinesh Bhugra’s research interests are in cultural psychiatry, sexual dysfunction and service development. He is the recipient of over 10 honorary degrees. He has authored/co-authored over 400 scientific papers and 32 books two of which have been translated into Chinese and Japanese. He is also the Editor of three journals (International Journal of Social Psychiatry, International Review of Psychiatry and International Journal of Culture and Mental Health).  

Previously he was the Dean (2003-2008) and then President (2008-2011) of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK, where he led on major policy initiatives on psychiatry’s contract with society, public mental health and the role of the psychiatrist. He has led on major international surveys on discrimination against people with mental illness and medical students’ interest in psychiatry. 

Catherine is a senior systematic reviewer and has published numerous systematic reviews and health technology assessments, including music for recuperation after surgery, therapeutic writing in long-term conditions, and in sexual orientation and health. Previously, Catherine was Research Leader at RAND Europe in Cambridge, Reader in Health Technology Assessment at Brunel University, Senior Lecturer at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and at the University of Birmingham. 

Her research interests include leading and managing systematic reviews and health technology assessments, systematic reviews in complex interventions and of devices and diagnostics, prognosis, causality and health service delivery.  

Catherine has been conducting research into lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health since 1992, with the intention to develop evidence useful for health policy. Her work includes several publications on prevalence of conditions in sexual minority compared to heterosexual women, health behaviours and pregnancy rates. One systematic review contributed to obtaining funding for a LGBT health centre in Birmingham.  

Recently she completed a best evidence review for Public Health England on healthcare experiences and health of UK sexual minority women. She has also delivered numerous public lectures, taught undergraduate medical students, helped develop an elearning package for GPs and has been on several LGBT conference steering committees. 

Susan qualified in 1982 (Oxford University & Middlesex Hospital). She has a degree in medical law and ethics, trained in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and became consultant obstetrician and Clinical Director at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London 1994-2011. Latterly she worked in London’s Havens (Sexual Assault Referral Centres). Her research contributions relate to severe maternal morbidity and violence in pregnancy (>350 publications and 8 edited books). She believes in evidence-based, patient-centred care, and multi-disciplinary team working, and taking a societal, public health approach to the health of the next generation. She was the first co-chair of GLADD (https://www.gladd.co.uk) and has chaired the RCOG Ethics Committee, NICE Intrapartum Guideline Development Group (GDG) and NICE Rapid Update Standing Committee. She has been a Member of the NICE Fertility GDG, NICE Domestic Violence GDG and World Health Organisation GDG on women living with HIV. She was awarded the 2015 British Medical Journal Editor’s award for “Speaking Truth to Power”.

Dr Mike Farquhar is a consultant in sleep medicine at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. He trained in general paediatrics, respiratory paediatrics and sleep medicine in Glasgow, Nottingham, Sydney and London. 

Dr Michael Farquhar joined the Evelina London sleep medicine team as a consultant in 2012. He holds weekly general sleep, hypersomnia and adolescent sleep clinics, and supports Evelina London’s busy diagnostic sleep study service. He also works with colleagues across Evelina London to support sleep in children and young people with complex medical difficulties. 

Mike has an interest in the importance of sleep, sleep deprivation and fatigue in the context of shiftwork within the NHS. He has worked to improve awareness and understanding of these issues since becoming a consultant. 

Mike also has a strong interest in raising awareness of issues and challenges faced by young people who identify as LGBT+, particularly when accessing NHS healthcare. In 2018, he helped develop and pilot the Rainbow NHS Badge (https://www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/about-us/who-we-are/NHS-Rainbow-Badges.aspx) scheme at Evelina London, which has now been adopted across Guy’s and St Thomas’ and beyond. 

Aimee is a co-ordinator for LGBT Foundation’s Pride in Practice program and works closely with primary care services to include LGBT people, as well as delivering training and consultancy to health care services. 

Pride in Practice is a programme by the LGBT Foundation that aims to ensure all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people have access to primary care services that are LGBT inclusive and understand the needs of our communities.  

LGBT Foundation was funded by NHS England and Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership) to support GP Practices, Community Pharmacies, Dental Practices and Optometry outlets through the program. 

Established in 1975, LGBT Foundation exists to support the needs of the diverse range of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans.