Tackling racism in the NHS

A BMA conference held last week to discuss racial discrimination in the medical profession highlighted a range of reports and publications written since 1987 that have documented the problem. Racial discrimination occurs at all levels in the medical profession, from applications to medical school,1 2 3 through the examination process,4 to job applications.5 6 It also affects the manner in which complaints are made against doctors.7 8 Our problem is not a lack of evidence but the lack of political will to tackle the problem. That racial discrimination within the medical profession is widespread is a view many doctors may find hard to accept. But it is an accusation that must be taken seriously. With 23% of the medical workforce and, in some medical schools, 30% of the current intake classifying themselves as ethnic minorities, the issue is not necessarily one of under-representation of ethnic minorities but of equal opportunities–potentially affecting a quarter of doctors in Britain. The problem of discrimination in the profession is first and foremost an ethical and moral issue, and, as a profession, we should …