Doctor, researcher
and author

Rageshri is a doctor, researcher and author. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine based in London. Her clinical work, research, writing and advocacy focus on improving health equity and she is a sought-after speaker on this topic. Rageshri’s own experiences of being unheard as a patient and her work with minoritised communities, have inspired her to speak up about injustice in healthcare.

Rageshri is the author of Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing and has contributed an essay to the anthology No One Talks About This Stuff.  She is an inaugural Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word writer awardee. Rageshri has written for The Lancet, BMJ Leader and Media Diversified and has appeared on The Victoria Derbyshire Show, Channel 5 News, BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC World Service and BBC Sounds, among others.

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NEW RELEASE BOOK

Unheard:
The Medical Practice
of Silencing

Unheard is about who gets listened to and who doesn’t in medicine and how this leads to a culture of silencing that exacerbates health inequities, on an individual and global scale. It’s also about what we can do to make sure everyone’s voice is equally heard and valued; a prescription to close the gap for the most marginalised in society and by doing this, improving healthcare for all.

Published 4th July 2024.

PRE ORDER

  • The book I’ve been longing to read. This is such a timely, vital exploration of the ways in which doctors can silence their patients and how this reinforces health inequalities. Dr Dhairyawan writes with great compassion, candour and a scalpel-sharp intellect. A brilliant, fascinating book.

    Dr Rachel Clarke, author of Breathtaking

  • In Unheard, Dr Dhairyawan's experience and wisdom as both doctor and patient are brought to bear on one of the most pressing subjects of our day: how to access vital care and how to deliver it, and the often devastating consequences of silencing and misdirected power. This is a timely, necessary, indignant and ultimately compassionate book that should become required reading for medics, politicians and the public.

    Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent

  • Accessibly written and deftly argued, Dhairyawan not only lays bare the shortcomings in our health system's culture, but offers solutions

    Gary Younge, author of Dispatches from the Diaspora

  • Dhairyawan is a powerful advocate for patients. Her compassion shines through in Unheard and is something we can all learn from. Unheard is a vital read that has the capacity to transform patient care. A must read for all those interested in improving health outcomes.

    Dr Annabel Sowemimo, author of Divided

  • What a powerful book that made me reflect on my clinical practice. A must read to break the cycle of silence and shame that perpetuates to widen the knowledge gap and keep a nation sick

    Dr Nighat Arif, author of The Knowledge

  • Unheard embodies the truth of medical malpractice rooted in prejudice and discrimination. Dr Rageshri does with Unheard what medicine does for the ailed. She cuts through the noise to the root cause and blows the lid off an open secret. If I had to read a book that reflects my experience as a Black woman devalued, dismissed, unlistened to in medicine but also gives me the tools of how to reclaim my power to be heard, it would be Unheard.

    Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu

  • Unheard is a vital prescription for health equity, with a clear and simple message: listen. Dr Dhairyawan skilfully bridges the long-standing divide between patients and their healthcare providers, calling for a more collaborative, respectful and empathic relationship between the two. I hope every healthcare professional reads it and feels inspired to radically rethink their practice.

    Sarah Graham, author of Rebel Bodies

Books

No One Talks About This Stuff: Twenty-Two Stories of Almost Parenthood.

Edited by Kat Brown.

A support group for almost-parents in a book, No One Talks About This Stuff is an anthology of 22 essays. Rageshri has contributed ‘Work In Progress’, which is about her experiences of coming to terms with infertility and the importance of recognising both grief and resilience.

BUY NOW

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The Lancet Voice
Epistemic Injustice

Podcasts

This episode's guests include Dr Seye Abimbola, Associate Professor and Principle Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan, Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, and Dr Thirusha Naidu, Head of Clinical Psychology at King Dinuzulu Hospital and an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Public Health at University of KwaZulu-Natal.