A Doctor Calls

Dr Sumi Dunne, the new medical expert on Operation Transformation, will bring her own unique energy and interests to the TV show. Donal O’Donoghue talks to her

The new OT doctor, Sumi Dunne, says she believes in tough love and it all starts with her own family. Donal O’Donoghue gets her thoughts on obesity, sex education and other medical matter

There’s a new doctor in the Operation Transformation house. Sumi Dunne, a GP from County Laois, follows in the not inconsiderable steps of Eva Orsmond and Ciara Kelly and even without the intensive TV show on her plate the mother of four is up the walls. When I ring at the appointed hour, in the middle of her working day, Dunne’s phone goes through to voicemail. The recorded message is of the good doctor asking the caller to leave their details before another voice cuts in prompting her to descend into a fit of the giggles. “Oh that’s from those footloose days before we had kids,” says Dunne when we do catch up. “I decided to keep it just to remind me of the way things were before the babies came along.

“Call me Sumi,” says the Londoner, who also lectures with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland as well as working her GP practice and keeping the show on the road at home. “I like new and different challenges and as I hadn’t done Operation Transformation before, why not? I had seen the show previously and have done newspaper and radio pieces so it kind of snowballed from there. When the opportunity arose I thought if I don’t do it now, I never will.” And so she did, meeting with the show’s producers, doing a screen test and she was in. So how does Dr Sumi feel about following doctors Orsmond and Kelly? “Absolute legends in their fields,” she says with the poise of a practised politician. Like those predecessors, she is a firm believer in tough love. “Tough love together with support,” she clarifies. “Sometimes tough love can push people away so you need that support too. My kids would sometimes say, ‘Mummy you are very hard!’ because at bedtime there are no phones allowed upstairs. We have a collection box at the bottom of the stairs.”

Operation Transformation ticks a few boxes for Dr Sumi. “It has never o ered the quick x. It’s not a case of ‘I’m just going to get into the little black dress for that event’. is is something that is sustainable, something that is healthy and something that you can come back to and use as a reference point at any time. It’s a show that also o ers continued support. You only have to look back at previous leaders who have continued with the programme and have said that it has changed their lives for the better.”

Sumi credits her parents for instilling her with sensible advice in the vulnerable teenage years. “Now I have embraced a lifestyle of eating well, getting my family to eat well and tting my exercise into my working day whether that is walking to work or getting o the bus that little bit early or whatever. I haven’t dieted in the last ten years or so but I would know all about struggling with weight. It can be easy to say you don’t have time to exercise or that you’re too tired to do it, but it just involves a bit of planning and that can mean 20 minutes in your day or even walking to your local shop to buy the newspaper.”

Dunne was born in London but moved to the midlands in 1999. “What brought me to County Laois?” she says, repeating the question. “A BIFFO brought me here. I only learnt that acronym, Big Ignorant Fecker from O aly, when I moved to Ireland. e thing is I met someone when I was on holiday, they said that they would ring me and you know what? ey did.” at someone, Matt, rang her and they had a long distance relationship before nally tying the knot. e couple now have four children aged 15, 13, 11 as well as “a little fairy” aged ve. ey also have two golden retrievers (“mad as March hares”) and several hens but alas the family gold sh is no more.

A graduate of the University of Southampton, Dr Mousumi ‘Sumi’ Dunne has maintained both an academic and clinical career. She became a member of the Irish College of General Practitioners in 2005, the same year she started as a GP in the Laois/Kildare area. Since 2011, Sumi has been the Primary Care Representative for the National Breastfeeding Implementation Strategy Committee. In August 2016, she completed a MSc. in Leadership in Health Professions Education at the Institute of Leadership, RCSI. She relishes the opportunity to bring those areas of interest to what you might call her Operation Transformation practice.

THE BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY

“ ere’s a lot to be said for getting out to meet people and to embrace communities. is is a pivotal point of Operation Transformation. It is a really community-based show where everyone is in it together, so there is the micro aspect of the individual but also the macro view of the community and the nationwide elements which makes it so engaging. What we do know is that with people who, through circumstance or illness or through their own personal choice, have become isolated, there is a huge impact on both mental and physical health. So what we try and encourage as much as possible is for people to remain community-based in a safe environment for as long as they feel that they can. ese are projects like Tidy Towns and speci cally Men’s Sheds, which are great for getting local men together in a really relaxed environment to do really practical things. ere is a lot out there, from the teens to the elderly and sometimes people are not aware of it, but these groups are so well worth exploring.

CHILDHOOD OBESITY

“I would echo Dr Ciara Kelly’s thoughts on childhood obesity which is something I see on a daily basis as a GP. We can support people through this but the most difficult conversation is with the parent, to say that their child has a weight problem. When you have that conversation you have to tell them that this has nothing to do with them in isolation but we need to address it because, and there is strong evidence to support this, there is an increasing rate of type-2 diabetes at an earlier age. Children are at an advantage; unlike adults, they have the velocity of height. We can say that it’s not a diet but a modification for change. We are looking at family- centred method where everyone is involved and the lifestyle change is for everyone and not just for the child in question.

CHILDHOOD VACCINATION

“I’m a big advocate for childhood vaccines and completing immunisation programmes and also for sexual health. Vaccines work: full stop. For all the patients who come in to visit me, it’s important to create a safe environment for patients to talk about their sexual health and sexual needs. You want to keep your general practice as an open door. GPs do not judge and there isn’t much that they haven’t heard before. ey are also empathetic and this is really pivotal in rural communities, similar to where I work, where people feel that they can come and talk to their GP. at is something I’d like to promote on Operation Transformation. People should feel that they can talk to their GP. We feel a measure of success when our patients are talking to us.” Will Dr Sumi be the new Dr Eva or the old Dr Ciara or someone else entirely? I suspect the latter. Here is a high achiever with her own way of doing things; whose role of GP will always be far more important than the mantle of the TV celebrity. “On Operation Transformation I’m going to be true to myself and my medical practice,” she says. “I’m a GP. I don’t run ultra marathons but I do incorporate exercise and healthy eating into my daily life. I’m no saint, I have the occasional biscuit, but my true self is a GP and that is what I will be on Operation Transformation.”

I’m a big advocate for childhood vaccines and completing immunisation programmes and also for sexual health. Vaccines work: full stop