Criminalising Distress examines practices associated with the Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) scheme, which targeted people at high risk of suicide and self harm who frequently contact emergency services, and became a national scandal in 2021 as a result of a campaign by the StopSIM Coalition. Critically, the report outlines ongoing police and NHS schemes which continue to criminalise distress today, including schemes through which police remain embedded in the mental health system. Building on the work of service users / survivors, including the StopSIM Coalition, we argue that: The sys ..read more

Medact directs our capacity and strategy into four programme areas, led by campaigners, focusing on campaigns that demand change at a national level; and local groups of health workers organising in their workplaces and communities to affect change in towns and cities. For several years, local Medact groups across the country have sought to concentrate on more than one of Medact’s campaigns simultaneously. In this blog, Ben Eder, our longest-serving Movement Organiser, shares some reflections on the challenges of working on multiple campaigns, and gives learning-informed guidance on when it ca ..read more

Over 2 million people in the UK live with black mould in their homes. This is causing serious health problems, with the most severe cases resulting in death. As part of the Homes for Us alliance, we have released a new short documentary, ‘Mould is Political’. Produced by tenants and health workers fighting for healthy homes, it demonstrates how black mould is impacting people’s lives and health. On March 13th, the Homes for Us alliance projected clips from the documentary onto Parliament to make our demands clear. Please share the video as widely as you can! Insecure, unsafe and unaffordable ..read more

On Friday March 1st, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a press conference to speak on what he described as the “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality.” According to the PM, “(t)here are forces here at home trying to tear us apart.” Sunak paints a picture of Britain as a country overrun by violent Islamist extremism, following Islamophobic claims made earlier that week by a Conservative MP of “no-go areas” patrolled by Muslim gangs. He weaves this depiction together in direct reference to the hundreds of thousands of UK residents from all walks of life who have expressed ho ..read more

On Saturday 10th February, members of Medact Bristol, complete with scrubs and stethoscopes, set up a “transport clinic” outside Kingswood shopping centre, joined by local campaign groups “Kingswood Climate Action”, Reclaim Our Buses and the West of England Mobility Hub. Our stall was designed to look like a medical clinic aimed to highlight the links between public transport and health. The proposed treatment? Public control of buses. We invited members of the Kingswood community to explore their experiences of Bristol buses and discuss the possibility of bus franchising, which would help to ..read more

Housing injustice is making us sick! Health workers know the vast breadth of harms that unsafe and insecure housing has on patients. Mould is political—and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. That’s why members of our Economic Justice group are building a health-worker movement for housing justice. This year, Medact supported tenants to win healthy homes, holding landlords and local authorities accountable! Members helped build a national coalition for social housing—the Homes for Us coalition—and we trained health workers to speak out about housing injustices. Now we need your help to make ev ..read more

About the prize The Holdstock-Piachaud Essay Prize was set up to encourage students to explore the themes covered by the journal Medicine, Conflict and Survival, in memory of Douglas Holdstock and Jack Piachaud who were for many years inspirational editors of the Journal. We are keen to receive essays that explore insights, concerns and original perspectives on issues relevant to the aims of the journal, from students who will be shaping the future. We encourage you to base your argument on relevant literature and to develop it drawing on your own experience and reflections. The Holdstock ..read more

As health workers, we are responding to the call from our colleagues in Palestine for us to stand with them in solidarity. Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people, and we have a responsibility to act. More than ten thousand Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza in the last month: all while the UK government continues its unfettered support for the ongoing violence.  We are calling for the UK government to: demand an immediate ceasefire and end to the blockade impose an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel  demand an end to the occupation of Palestine ..read more

Background Medact brings together health workers to fight for health justice. We recognise that health injustice is driven by political, social and economic conditions – and we mobilise the health community to take action to achieve systemic change, working together towards a fairer, better, safer world. We address some of the most pressing national and global threats to health and wellbeing including climate change, human rights abuses, militarism, institutional racism, and rising health and social inequality. We are a member-led organisation, and our members are made up of a range of people ..read more

Medact is looking for a freelance fundraiser over a six month period to secure funds essential to our stability, and to support us with our fundraising strategy. Medact supports the health community to work together towards a world in which everyone can truly achieve and exercise their human right to health. We’re a member-led organisation, and our members are made up of a range of people who work in health including nurses, doctors, midwives, and clinical researchers. We cover some of the most pressing national and global threats to health and wellbeing including climate change; human rights ..read more