{"id":1045,"date":"2025-12-19T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T06:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjleader\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2025-12-19T14:39:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:39:55","slug":"the-migrants-are-coming-so-what-kind-of-leader-will-you-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmjleader\/2025\/12\/19\/the-migrants-are-coming-so-what-kind-of-leader-will-you-be\/","title":{"rendered":"The Migrants Are Coming \u2014 So What Kind of Leader Will You Be? By Priyesh Patel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe migrants are coming.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the opening sentence of my recent TEDxNHS Talk<\/a>.\u00a0 A warning we\u2019ve heard many times now.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a line designed to provoke, because the debate on migration has become saturated with fear, slogans, and political noise. Yet behind those headlines are real people whose health needs don\u2019t pause at borders. And as leaders in health and care, should it not be us that decides what we stand for?<\/p>\n

To me, leadership in healthcare is ultimately about who we choose to see \u2014 and who we allow to remain invisible.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned this not from theory, but from the sharp end of humanitarian work. As the lead medical doctor on a search-and-rescue mission in the central Mediterranean, I witnessed how rapidly life can unravel when systems fail the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

One dawn, as our ship approached multiple dangerously overcrowded small boats, dozens of tiny reflections stared back at us from the darkness \u2014 the glaring eyes of people who had been drifting for days. That morning shaped my understanding of leadership more than any textbook.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t retell the entire story here \u2014 that\u2019s what the TED talk is for \u2014 but the essence matters. The ability to make critical decisions under pressure isn\u2019t just clinical; it\u2019s moral.<\/p>\n

When we requested a medical evacuation for a critically unwell child in the middle of the sea, I wasn\u2019t thinking in abstractions. I was thinking about responsibility. About visibility. About what happens when someone\u2019s life depends on a leader choosing not to look away.<\/p>\n

When politics shapes perception, clinical leadership must hold its ground<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Migration is now one of the most politicised issues of our time. Groups of people \u2014 migrants, refugees, asylum seekers \u2014 are routinely scapegoated<\/a>, reduced to threats<\/a>, numbers, or burdens. Entire narratives are built around what they supposedly take from us.<\/p>\n

But leadership demands steadier thinking. When public narratives grow louder, clinical leadership must grow clearer.<\/p>\n

When polarisation deepens, our duty to impartial and inclusive care must sharpen. Health professionals cannot control political rhetoric, but we can<\/em> model a different kind of leadership \u2014 one built on evidence, compassion, and a refusal to dehumanise.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a political stance; it\u2019s a professional one.
\nAnd it extends far beyond migration.<\/p>\n

The unseen groups growing at the edges of our system<\/strong><\/p>\n

Across the UK, a widening circle of people are slipping into invisibility. Some of the groups I\u2019ve encountered clinically and through humanitarian work include:<\/p>\n