Black doctors in England four times less likely to get training places than white counterparts

The report suggests systemic racism and implicit bias are factors in why black doctors are less likely to be selected after being shortlisted. Photograph: AndreyPopov/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The report suggests systemic racism and implicit bias are factors in why black doctors are less likely to be selected after being shortlisted. Photograph: AndreyPopov/Getty Images Black doctors in England four times less likely to get training places than white counterparts For one placement, black applicants had a less than 1 in 100 chance of being offered a place, NHS data shows Black doctors in England are four times less likely to be offered a training place than their white counterparts, according to analysis. As part of their medical training, doctors across the NHS are able to apply to placements within specific branches of practice such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and emergency medicine. Analysis of NHS England data by researchers at the BMJ found black doctors were four times less likely to be offered a training place in any of these specialities than their white counterparts. NHS to rate English trusts on tackling violence and racism towards staff Read more For some specialities, the disparity was even wider. For doctors applying for a core training 1 placement in anaesthetics, black applicants had a less than 1 in 100 chance of being offered a place in 2024 – 30 times less likely than their white counterparts. Only 10 of 1,158 black applicants received an offer, compared with 7% of Asian applicants and a third of white applicants. In obstetrics and gynaecology at the first year of speciality training, black applicants were almost 11 times less likely to be offered a place compared with their white counterparts. Although black or Asian candidates were often shortlisted at a similar rate to white candidates across all specialities, they were much less likely to be offered a post. Overall, black applicants for specialist training were offered a place 12% of the time, Asian applicants 19% of the time, and white applicants 47% of the time. Sheila Cunliffe, the report’s author, said that within the application process the disparity becomes evident when candidates are selected rather than when they are shortlisted. “This raises questions about the robustness of the process, the training of panels, and whether issues such as available finance and personal connections enabling internships or training opportunities can influence final decisions in highly competitive fields,” said Cunliffe, a senior HR professional and independent researcher into racism in the NHS. She added: “In these circumstances it is difficult to understand how NHS England are complying with the statutory requirements of the Public Service Equality Duty to monitor and take action on any ethnicity-based disparities in selection.” The analysis suggested systemic racism and implicit bias were factors in why ethnic minority doctors were less likely to be selected