The gap between the amount of fitness to practice complaints made by employers about ethnic minority doctors and international medical graduates, compared to white doctors, has reduced slightly, according to a new progress report from the medical profession regulator.
Last year the General Medical Council (GMC) set targets to eliminate disproportionate referrals from employers about ethnic minority doctors by 2026, and to eradicate disadvantaged and discrimination in medical education and training by 2031.
Ethnic minority doctors are twice as likely to be referred to the GMC by their employer than white doctors, and doctors who gained their medical degree outside the UK are three times more likely to be referred to the GMC than doctors who took their medical degree in the UK.
Furthermore, the UK’s medical profession is becoming increasingly diverse. Following rapid growth from 2015, more international medical graduates joined the UK workforce than UK and EEA graduates combined in 2020. More than half (54%) of those joining the register in 2020 identified as black and minority ethnic (BME), GMC data shows .
targets
As previously reported, the GMC’s equality, diversity and inclusion targets focus on areas where clear evidence of disproportionality has been seen over time, and will hold the regulator accountable for taking action and working through others to deliver change.
The GMC also pledged to increase its own diversity, and progression for its ethnic minority staff, across all levels including leadership roles.
The regulator committed to publishing details of progress against its targets every year, and today it published its first update, which found:
-
The proportion of designated bodies with fitness to practice referrals that were disproportionate in terms of ethnicity or UK/international qualification has dropped about 5%, from 5.6%, in the 5-year period to 2020, to 5.3% in the 5 years to 2021 .
-
The gap in employer fitness to practice referral rates between ethnic minority licensed doctors and white doctors has fallen from 0.28% (0.30% white, 0.58% ethnic minority), during 2016-2020, to 0.24% (0.26% white, 0.50% ethnic minority ) during 2017-2021.
-
Fairness measures for medical education and training remain at similar levels.
-
As an employer, the GMC has improved ethnic minority workforce representation at all levels and progression rates for ethnic minority staff.
GMC Chief Executive Charlie Massey said: “This update sets out the actions taken by us, and by others, to drive change. The early indications are good, but we are not complacent. Much more needs to be done. The issues are longstanding, and the incremental changes that are being made may take time to work through to the data.
“We will continue our sustained focus, and we are calling on other organizations to do the same. These annual updates, of which this is the first, will continue to shine a light on the extent to which the necessary changes are happening.”
background research
In 2019, the GMC commissioned research to identify what was driving a greater proportion of ethnic minority doctors and international medical graduates to be referred to it by employers.
The ‘Fair to refer?’ report identified recommendations to address these issues, which included:
-
Improving induction, feedback and support for doctors new to the UK or the health service, or for doctors working in isolated roles.
-
Addressing the systemic issues that prevent a focus on learning, rather than blame, when something goes wrong.
-
Making sure that positive and inclusive leadership is more consistent across the health service.
-
Developing a way to check that these recommendations are delivered.
