Thread by @JujuliaGrace

I’ve been wondering whether to post this for a while, because I knew that it would increase the trolling in the short term. But I’ve decided to do it.

Since I’ve started @EveryDoctorUK, the organisation and myself have been subjected to smear campaigns and bullying from many…

…high profile individuals, including some within the medical profession. A tiny number of influential people have successfully sabotaged newspaper articles containing important petitions, sabotaged collaborations by meeting with potential collaborators and smearing our name…

…by spreading misinformation about us. By setting up fake social media accounts to spread rumours and obtain information. By setting up abusive parody accounts (look up ‘EveryDogtor’ on Facebook for example). By accusing me of severe mental health problems publicly, on our …

…Facebook page. By threatening to report me to the GMC if I carried on with EveryDoctor. The list goes on. It goes on and on. My personal telephone number has been obtained, and used to abuse me.

It has hampered me from speaking to some doctors, because the waves of abuse…

…have been so extreme as to prevent me from eating and sleeping at times. EveryDoctor, fortunately, due to the incredible integrity of its members and our team, has persevered. I have had times when I have felt extremely anxious, terrified, and stressed beyond belief by the…

…smears.

I have reached a crossroads where the organisation needs to grow now, because doctors need better representation, patient safety needs to be advocated for, medical students need support, and the public needs to understand what this government is doing…

…I speak to 25000 doctors in our campaigning Facebook group, The Political Mess. It is moderated carefully by a diverse group of doctors, with careful rules, and the moderation is done democratically. The forum members have collectively done fantastic campaigning work…

…However since joining Twitter in autumn 2020, I haven’t felt able to tweet using hashtags which communicate with the UK medical profession, because of the pile-ons and smears which have ensued. But I don’t think it’s right to continue like this. I started EveryDoctor…

…to support doctors to come together and make their working lives and the lives of their patients safer. And if I’m not able to speak freely, I’m not doing my job properly.

So from now on, I’ll be using Twitter to speak to doctors and medical students using the popular…

…hashtags used by the medical community.

Thank you to everyone following @EveryDoctorUK on Twitter and for your unwavering support. If anyone sees anything written about our non-profit which concerns you, please email [e-mail] so that our team can respond…

…we’re not going to be silenced by bullies any longer: the work isn’t about us. It’s about NHS staff and patients, their safety, and the future of the NHS 💙

Ju

#medtwitter #teamGP @EveryDoctorUK