Inspirational Perth doctor sets up two hospitals in Iraq
23.11.2022 - 12:55
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An NHS Tayside doctor who fled Iraq has spoken of how he now splits his time between working in Iraq and Perth.
The inspirational medic spends a third of his time working in his home country where he established both a teaching hospital and a lung institute setting up specialist treatment not previously available in Iraq.
And when he is not in Iraq or seeing patients at Perth Royal Infirmary, respiratory consultant Mudher Al-Khairalla is off training doctors all over the world.
Dr Al-Khairalla - who can barely remember his last day off - took a quick half hour out of his hectic schedule to recently talk to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Mudher’s parents hail originally from the province of ThiQar which includes the city of Nasiriyah. Nasiriyah lies between Baghdad and Basra.
His family fled Iraq when Saddam Hussein came to power. Mudher was raised in Yorkshire before going on to train as a respiratory doctor with NHS Tayside.
But he never forgot the people he had left behind and longed to go back and help rebuild Iraq.
He said: "My mum passed away in 2013 but she was instrumental in the concept of humanity and thinking of people less fortunate. She put a lot of that in my head at a young age and helped me strive towards that."
And when Saddam Hussein's regime toppled in 2003, Mudher took the chance to return.
He explained: "I started visiting in 2003 when the regime changed - sometimes with family but usually by myself - two or three times a year."
It was during this time he was able to start sorting out paperwork and create networks and connections.
In 2013 - when he was working as a consultant in Doncaster, South Yorkshire -he and his family took the decision for him to resign from his post, sell the family home and