GMC's update on tackling discrimination and inequality in medicine
The General Medical Council (GMC) has published its annual update on its work to tackle discrimination and inequality in medicine. This latest report provides an update on progress and shows how continued proactive action to address inequalities is making a measurable difference.
The GMC committed to eliminating disproportionate employer fitness to practise referrals of doctors from an ethnic minority, or who qualified outside the UK, and who are more likely to be referred to the regulator, by the end of 2026. It says it is on track to achieve this.
Latest figures in the report show the proportion of employers where data suggests excess referrals in relation to a doctor’s ethnicity or place of qualification has now reduced by 48 per cent - from 5.6 per cent down to 2.9 per cent - since the initial benchmark of 2016-2020. This has been achieved, in part, by initiatives including improved processes for employers referring doctors, and promoting mentoring programmes to support doctors who might otherwise miss out on such opportunities.
The regulator has also set an ambition to eradicate discrimination, disadvantage and unfairness in medical education and training by 2031, but progress against this longer-term aim is slower.
Across education and training, indicators in the report show significant disparities, with only limited signs of improvement in measures for UK-qualified doctors, or medical students, from ethnic minority backgrounds. This is despite signs the gap is narrowing between UK and non-UK graduates, with differentials in specialty exam pass rates decreasing by seven percentage points.
