Meet the woman breaking down NHS race barriers

As a Black woman brought up under the racist apartheid system in South Africa, Amanda Bennett had little expectation of finishing school let along going to university.

Now a PhD student in Psychology and a nominee for a national BAME Health and Care award, she spoke to us about her journey which is giving her “more than (she) ever dreamed of.”

Amanda, you and many others from racially minoritised groups “continue to face significant barriers to accessing doctoral-level degrees.” What are your views on this, and how much does it chime with your personal journey?

“I am, what is considered a ‘Coloured’ woman, born into South Africa’s apartheid regime. There was no expectation for me to finish high school. I was the second in generations of my family to finish school and the first to go to university. A Master’s degree and a PhD were not even on my radar of reasonable.”

How frustrating is it for you and people you know that academia is not representative of society?

You don’t know what you don’t know. So, I wasn’t frustrated. Having been in academia for three years now, I’m not sure frustrated is the word I would use. Bereft?

Tell us about yourself, your family, ambitions?

I’m from a Durban ghetto called Wentworth. It was apartheid South Africa and Wentworth was a ‘Coloured’ ghetto, so I went to Coloured schools (not a careless word choice, rather my official government race designation.)

My dad died in my penultimate year of high school, so although I finished school ranked within the top 10 in my province and the top 100 nationally, I had to go to work. But at 21, my mum remarried, and I was able to go to university. One of the advantages of working straight out of high school was that I worked for Coloured Affairs, a government department and a perk of the job was a housing subsidy. I used the subsidy to buy a flat at 19, which I then sold, and this paid for my first year of university. How I funded the next three years is a very interesting story, but for another day.

I came to Liverpool in 2000 to work as a physiotherapist and earned NIHR funding to do a Masters in 2010. More recently, I received a studentship from Equity in Doctoral Education Through Partnership and Innovation to complete a PhD and I am now in my third year.

Tell us about your PhD and how you feel about it making a difference.

My PhD explores the impact of race and ethnicity on the diagnosis and management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome, a condition that first brought my attention to health inequalities. I believe my findings are applicable to many other conditions.

I still work clinically at Liverpool University Hospital and I informally share what I am learning with colleagues. I have encouraging stories of real-world application that has led to significant changes in clinical decisions. More formally, I include my learning in in-service training programs. I have been invited to speak on the topic within the region, for example at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy conference on health inequalities. I do think sharing my learning is opening eyes to the consequences of disregarding ethnocultural influences in healthcare.

How is LJMU changing, and how are our people supporting or inspiring you?

LJMU is the third university that I have attended, so I can confidently say that it is the best yet. I have never had such an experience of being both supported and inspired. I don’t think I knew what support looked or felt like until I got here. At LJMU, I have immeasurably more than I could have ever dreamed of or imagined.

Where do you hope to be in five years’ time?

I will have graduated with a doctoral degree and where that road will lead, I have yet to discover. I hope that by the time I graduate the NHS will have caught up with the idea of having clinical academic posts for allied health professionals. I hope that the NHS will be convinced of the benefit of having clinicians, still working with patients, educating staff, researching for patient benefit and influencing service provision with the research conducted. I hope to begin to influence culturally informed practice within the NHS, in the first instance, and continue to add to the growing body of evidence internationally to support improved health outcomes for all.

Amanda is one of two researchers shortlisted for the prize of Pioneering Health Equality researcher of the year at the National BAME awards being held on Thursday, 25 September 2025.

EDEPI programme

EDEPI is one of 13 Research England and Office for Students funded programmes, created to tackle persistent inequalities that create barriers to access and participation in doctoral education for racially minoritised groups.

The EDEPI programme is divided into three distinct work packages targeting recruitment, admissions and transition as critical points of systemic inequality, through sector-leading initiatives delivered at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).