Doctor recognised for tackling health inequalities
Dr Jahangir Alom, an A&E doctor at Newham Hospital, has been recognised for his dedication to tackling health inequalities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Jahangir was shortlisted for an NHS Parliamentary Rising Star Award, which celebrates young NHS leaders who give up their time, lend their experiences and deliver better services for their area.
Over the course of the pandemic, Jahangir (often known as Jingy) advocated for better safety measures for ethnic minority communities and later became a trusted voice for information about Covid-19 and vaccines.
Jahangir joined Barts Health NHS Trust in August 2020, moving from Leicester to Tower Hamlets, the community in which he grew up.
Reflecting on his special recognition, he said:
“It has always been my mission to work at Barts Health, and serve my own community in north east London, an area historically known for social deprivation. We knew that communities in this area were badly hit by Covid-19 in terms of infection rates, mortality, and had low vaccination rates, so if there was anything I could do to help then I wanted to.”
One area that Jahangir focussed on was addressing vaccine hesitancy among the ethnic minority communities in north east London. He worked with local social media influencers, faith leaders at the East London Mosque and community activists to support people in making their vaccine decision. And in September 2021, he joined the NHS England team to help drive increased vaccine uptake. In particular, he worked to address concerns among NHS staff, answering their questions and explaining the benefits of vaccination. This important work saw over 147,000 of the most hesitant healthcare workers take up the vaccine across the country.
Jahangir is also an advocate for diversity within the NHS workforce, and supports young students in Tower Hamlets who aspire to work in the organisation.
Having won the London region award for ‘Rising Star’, he is now in the running for the national NHS Parliamentary Award prize which will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 6th July 2022.
Last month Jahangir was also listed in the HSJ100 ‘wildcards’ for 2022 – the influential people and organisations who will impact the NHS’s recovery over the next year.