GENSOCIAL
DAVID OLUSOGA is preparing to host a brand new documentary celebrating the immigrant workforce that forms the backbone of the NHS.
The historian and broadcaster will oversee the programme later this year, titled ‘Our International NHS’.
Olusoga, who was recently in the headlines praising former England footballer Paul Gascoigne for stepping in to help fend off racists when the pair were youngsters at the same school, will host the one hour special for BBC One and iPlayer.
Throughout its history, the NHS has drawn in doctors, nurses, specialists and support staff from overseas, and without them the NHS would simply have collapsed, unable to deliver on its foundational promise of a universal healthcare system available to all.
But though desperately needed these key workers have not always felt wanted.
Presented with Olusoga’s distinct forensic eye for documents, artefacts and archive, ‘Our International NHS‘ tells the story of the NHS from the perspective of Irish and Caribbean nurses, Asian doctors and Eastern European ancillary workers, whose personal journeys expose revelatory truths about an institution that today more than ever has become ‘the closest thing we have to a national religion.’
Olusoga is a busy man and recently delivered a live virtual lesson as part of school campaign in support of Census 2021.
Looking into equality, representation, diversity, ethnicity and race, birthplace, 6,500 schools and 1.5 million schoolkids signed up to the programme.
Talking on the project Olusoga said: “I passionately believe in public history and above all in making the stories of everyone and every community in the UK accessible to children.
“2020 has been a year in which young people have shown us that equality and representation, the issues my lesson will explore, are issues that acutely matter to them.
“The census – as ever – will provide a snapshot of who we are as a nation. History explains how we got here.”
Check out Olusoga live lesson, Equality, Representation and the Census, on YouTube, for parents, teachers and children
