Ethnic minority doctors facing ‘unacceptable disadvantages’
ETHNIC minority doctors face “systematic disadvantage”, a leading GP has claimed as research revealed white doctors are nearly 50 per cent more likely to be deemed fit for the job.
Aneez Esmail, a professor and GP who was arrested over a landmark study into recruitment discrimination 27 years ago, said new data showed a “shocking” lack of progress.
Figures from the General Medical Council showed that from 2016 to 2018, only 53 per cent of ethnic minority doctors were considered “appointable” to speciality training posts – compared to 75 per cent of white counterparts.
The applicants had all completed UK foundation training and had interviews at regional recruitment centres.
The 41 per cent gulf between the groups was “very disappointing and, frankly, unacceptable in this day and age” said the professor, whose research was published in The BMJ.
Dr Esmail said it showed a “lack of progress” since his 1993 study, where he and fellow GP Sam Everington sent 46 bogus CVS to apply to 23 senior house officer jobs – half with English names, half with Asian names.
They found doctors with English names were twice as likely to be shortlisted and concluded the process was plagued by discrimination. However, both men were arrested and charged with making fraudulent applications.
The Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently dropped the charges.
Dr Esmail said he was “stunned” by the latest findings, including 2017 figures that showed two thirds of white applicants to academic posts were “appointable” – compared to only 4 per cent of ethnic minority applicants.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “I believe the processes systematically disadvantage some groups and I think we need to look a bit more closely at that.”
Another BMJ study examined why doctors and medical students from black and ethnic minority backgrounds were up to three times more likely to fail an exam than white students. It concluded a “complex” mix of exam bias, a lack of ethnic minority teaching staff and prejudice in the medical curriculum was driving differences.
A GMC spokesman it was “essential” that the factors were identified and addressed early. They said the GMC was working to “build evidence around what can be done, within medical education, to help tackle these issues”.