Dr Ellie Cannon has been a GP in North West London for more than a decade, but the outspoken medic - known for her appearances on TV shows like This Morning during the pandemic and beyond - grew up in Gosforth and has never forgotten her Geordie roots.
Dr Cannon has received a special award - the former Newcastle School for Girls pupil has been named the Girls Day School Trust alumna of the year, in recognition of her work in public health in the media. Dr Cannon has been forthright about her experience during Covid-19, what must be done to protect GPs, and why she's not been afraid to talk about taking anti-depressants.
Speaking to ChronicleLive, she explained being a public medical figure during the pandemic was a "double-edged sword". She said: "I won't lie, that time was incredibly stressful and distressing - as it was for everyone. I was often speaking on the TV or the radio but I was also attempting to look after myself and my family. It was really stressful, and we were still working from our clinic even from April 2020.
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"It was very stressful but the advantage for me on a personal level was that I had the opportunity to be incredibly up-to-date. I had access to high-level briefings from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Chief Medical Officer. It was very much a double-edged sword but I was pleased to do it.
"I was the first doctor in the country to recommend that people wore masks and did that from April 2020. Obviously as the pandemic has evolved, recommendations have developed and that's changed, but at the time I think it was worth it."
Dr Cannon works at the Abbey Medical Group in London alongside media commitments on TV, radio and in the Mail where she is the "resident" doctor with a column. She was an early recipient of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, and has been working hard to debunk vaccine misinformation.
She added: "I have always said that the reason it's so important to have trusted doctors and NHS workers like myself in the media is because there's such a huge volume of health information out there and there needs to be, and there needs to be information that's trusted and reliable."
Speaking at a time when GPs are under huge pressure, Dr Cannon said she felt there was perhaps a "north-south divide", with the issue of dwindling numbers of GPs particularly acute in the north. She said: "There's a wide range of how GP practices function around the country. Just like in the wider NHS, it's not a homogenous system. I have worked in the same practice for 15 years - and the truth is my practice functions well.
"The staff and management staff are wonderful but really that's simply because we have enough GPs. That's one of the problems and it's pertinent to the North-South divide. London practices often have a lot of GPs, which is really good, but that's compared to other parts of the country which do not have enough."
Dr Cannon said she felt the key to solving the strain on GPs would always be "workforce". She said it was vital to see progress made to ensure staff are attracted to staying in the profession, given the training they need, and that enough new GPs are recruited.
"It's stressful on a day to day basis and yes demand outstrips supply - but general practice is a wonderful system and we are very lucky to have primary care in the UK," she said.
Dr Cannon has recently been made a fellow of the Royal College of GPs, and over her career has also been a vocal campaigner on issues including menstrual dignity for BAME groups and gambling harm. She paid tribute to the education she received in Newcastle as a "profound learning experience" which help inspire her into medicine.
Also highlighted in Dr Cannon's award was her candour on the subject of mental illness. Memorably she revealed on This Morning that she herself takes medication for mental illness - and she said she had been pleased to talk about this, and that it had helped some patients feel more comfortable discussing the issue.
She said the discussion around mental health and illness is a conversation she fears is becoming "sanitised". She said: "I very much believe that the mental illness conversation that we are having in the UK is in danger of being sanitised. There is what I like to call the acceptable face of mental health - even in the fact that you said mental health as opposed to mental illness."
Dr Cannon said she had been inspired by writers like the Guardian's Hannah Jane Parkinson and said she thought being open about what mental illness looks like was "very important". "We need to do that in order to help people who do have mental illness," she said.
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