Dr Nighat is a GP specialising in women's health, family planning and menopause care with over 18 years of experience in the NHS and she runs her own private practice. She is an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is a medical broadcaster on TV and Radio. She is a health content creator working with YouTube Health and the WHO Fides programme as well as co-hosting a BBC Podcast called “That Time of The Month”. Dr Nighat is the Ambassador for Wellbeing of Women and co-founder of The Health Collective.
Dr Nighat is the recipient of the 2023 Prime Ministers 'Point of Light' Award in recognition of her work raising awareness of Women's Health issues in the UK and the 2024 Woman of the Year award at the Asian Achievers Awards, as well as recognised with having her portrait in the National Portrait Gallery as one of the “LEGENDS” making waves in healthcare in the UK.
Dr Nighat is the bestselling author of The Knowledge: Your guide to female health – from menstruation to the menopause, which is an illustrated, inclusive book for all things Women's Health. Her work has been published in British Vogue, The Times and Good Housekeeping.
Dr Nighat Arif has worked as a family GP for the NHS for over 18 years, specialising in women’s health. Her ability to consult fluently with patients in Urdu and Punjabi brings a great deal of trust from her community. Nighat is a medical educator and provides teaching to local trainee GPs, as well as at National and International conferences. Dr Nighat also runs her own private women’s health clinic in partnership with OSD Healthcare.
Dr Nighat was nominated for the National Bevan Prize for Health and Wellbeing to acknowledge her exceptional commitment to advancing well-being in her community. Dr Nighat has worked to raise awareness on menopause and women’s healthcare in Black and Asian women and presented her clinical work at the ‘Menopause in the Workplace’ Parliamentary committee hearing.
Public health education with the WHO and UN have led to Dr Nighat being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science at London City University for Women’s Health, Public Health and Inclusion. As well as a Doctorate in Science from Buckingham Medical University and Queen Mary’s University.
In 2023, she received a Points of Light award from the Prime Minister for her work raising awareness of women's health issues and in 2024, Nighat was awarded ‘Woman of the Year’ at the national Asian Achievers Award for her work around equity in healthcare.
Her clinical colleagues also recognised her extensive work around women’s healthcare in primary care and she was awarded an honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Dr Nighat’s book, titled The Knowledge: Your guide to female health – from menstruation to the menopause, is an extensive guidebook designed to help everyone better understand each of the three key stages of a woman’s life: the puberty years, the fertility years and the peri/menopausal years. It will help you to get to know the female body by explaining what is normal, what to expect, how to care for yourself and when to seek help. The book tackles many important topics, from the help available for people with conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, to the symptoms of heart disease to look out for in women. It is available to order here. Nighat's new book, The Complete Guide to Family Health, will be published in March 2026.
Dr Nighat has had several papers published and has won awards in the past. Most recently Nighat has written and contributed to British Vogue Magazine, HELLO!, MegsMenopause, Stylist Magazine, OK, Red, Good Housekeeping Magazine and Women in Medicine Magazine. As well as contributed to many books such as Menopausing: The positive roadmap to your second spring by Davina McCall & Dr Naomi Porter, The Complete Guide to POI & Early Menopause by Dr Hannah Short and Dr Mandy Leonhardt, as well her breadth of work in women’s well-being, mentioned in Everything you need to know about the menopause, but were not told by Kate Muir.
Dr Nighat Arif’s natural ability to connect with an audience has not gone unnoticed. After an immense amount of positive feedback, Nighat became the resident doctor on ITV's This Morning, BBC Breakfast, and BBC LookEast, updating viewers on the latest medical news. Dr Nighat was a guest expert on BBC’s Food Truth or Scare.
Dr Nighat is passionate about menopause awareness and making it a less taboo subject for all, but particularly for women for whom English is not their first language. As a doctor for women’s health and healthcare consultant, she made a guest appearance on BBC Breakfast: Wake up to the Menopause and she was also a contributor on the Channel 4 documentary Davina McCall: Sex, Lies and the Menopause.
Dr Nighat is a campaigner for Organ Donation in ethnic minority communities and has appeared on BBC Breakfast to try to encourage more organ donation. She is also very confident on the radio and hosted her own Sunday Breakfast show on BBC3 Counties Radio. Nighat regularly appears as a medical expert and guest speaker on TimesRadio, Talk Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Asian Network and BBC Berkshire. Nighat is trusted by the public for her honest and accessible medical advice.
Dr Nighat is confident in front of a live audience and has hosted women’s health workshops, keynote speeches and event hosting. Nighat has hosted successful keynote talks for companies including Google, Easyjet, Network Rail, Moorfields Ee hospital, Ritutals and many more.
In addition to her media work, Nighat is also an educational health content creator via her hugely popular and verified TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter accounts (@drnighatarif). Nighat has amassed a large and loyal following on her platform by uploading informative, funny and uplifting content daily.
Dr Nighat Arif is a very popular guest expert on several podcasts such as Begin Again with Davina McCall with over a million downloads, Get Real with Rio, where Dr Nighat broke down women’s health taboos with legendary footballer Rio Ferdinand and we heard the funny stories of Dr Nighat’s career in 'Jobs People Do Podcast' with Joe Marler. Dr Nighat also co-hosts ‘That Time of The Month’ Podcast with Naga Munchetty and Dr Christine Ekechi - a BBC Radio podcast where each month myth-busting and health taboos are tackled with a live radio audience who can call in with comments and questions.
Nighat is an ambassador of many charitable causes including Wellbeing of Women, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, HerSpirit, and The Lewis Foundation and The Good Grief Trust.
Dr Nighat is incredibly relaxed and confident on camera and is keen to build on a media career as an expert GP with a specialist interest in Women’s Health whilst remaining authentic to her values as a British Pakistani, Muslim woman and mother, navigating and uniting the different cultures in a positive way. She has integrity, substance, humanity and style and approaches life with great humor.
Black & White headshot image - credit to Zoe Law
