GMC report calls discrimination and disadvantage in medicine ‘persistent and pernicious’

Thursday 17 October

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has joined the call for action to address “systemic issues across UK healthcare” following a report into inequality in the industry.

It comes following the publication today (Thursday 17 October 2024) of a report by the General Medical Council (GMC) named ‘Equality, diversity and inclusion Targets, progress and priorities for 2024’

The report, which is published annually, found some areas of improvement, including:

• The disparity in fitness to practise referrals in relation to a doctor’s ethnicity or place of qualification has continued to reduce. Since the initial benchmark three years ago there has now been a reduction of 43% – from 5.6% down to 3.2% – in the proportion of employers where data suggests excess referrals of non-UK or ethnic minority doctors.
• Difference in overall rates of referrals between ethnic minority and white doctors, and between UK-qualified and non-UK qualified doctors, have also fallen, over the same period, by 54% and 62% respectively.

However, the report stressed that “inequality is embedded in medicine throughout a doctor’s career, from the earliest days of education and training to the leadership positions of latter years” and called for “a cultural upheaval, and a focus on longer-term systemic issues, across UK healthcare.”

Dr Adrian Boyle, President of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “We welcome the signs of progress shown in this report, including a reduction in the disparity of fitness to practice referrals and attainment levels in specialty training. However, the report shows there is still a long way to go to remove systemic barriers to achievement and progression for people from ethnic minorities.

“Diversity and fairness strengthen healthcare teams and are absolute requirements for people to feel nurtured and fulfil their potential. Ensuring these values are upheld also has wide reaching positive effects on patient safety and society as a whole.

“Like other medical Colleges, RCEM works with the GMC on four key goals to reduce inequality, including: valuing diversity and visible representation in college leadership and governance, inclusive programmes of learning and assessment, support for trainers and early learning needs analysis and support for UK postgraduate doctors in training preparing for high-stakes summative assessments and recovery from failed attempts.

“As a College we are committed to transparency in this area and have published our exam pass rates for 2023 measured against protected characteristics, as we strive for greater equality. We also have EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) representatives on a number of our committees. Together we are working towards building a more equitable healthcare system for both staff and patients.”