BMA targets racism within NHS

The British Medical Association (BMA) says racism within the National Health Service (NHS) is affecting the careers of some physicians, and is even considered “acceptable” behaviour in some quarters.

Physicians from ethnic minorities account for 35% of hospital-based doctors in the UK, but comprise only 20% of consultant specialists. The BMA study, Racism in the medical profession: the experience of UK graduates (www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/racism), is part of a larger cohort study that is tracking the careers of around 500 doctors who qualified to practise in 1995. The study found that:

· 62% of minority doctors and 41% of all doctors believe that ethnicity is a significant factor in access to medical training;

· 70% of minority doctors and 45% of all doctors believe ethnicity plays a significant role in early career opportunities;

· 87% of minority doctors and 53% of all doctors believe ethnicity affects access to training in medical specialties;

· 86% of minority doctors and 59% of all doctors believe it plays a significant role in career advancement.

One male British physician of Indian origin said he had been told “openly by consultants that there is prejudice.” A white respondent who had helped sort applications for training reported that one consultant threw away all those from foreign-born doctors. Another white doctor said that he had been informed by his predecessor that “really all I had to do was to walk into the interview room and walk out because I'd already got my name on that job.”

Respondents also cited a closed selection process that seemed to rely “not on what you know but who you know.”

Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, said the report made for “very uncomfortable reading,” and called for NHS managers to make selection processes more transparent and objective. — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK