Equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives of healthcare partners
Our engagement with healthcare partners on our lived experience research identified a number of activities relevant to our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work that complement the objective of a better and fairer experience for ethnic minority and international medical graduate (IMG) practitioners who are the subject of performance concerns.
Information about some of these initiatives is set out below. Please contact the individual organisations concerned for more information about any of these activities.
The health service workforce has long been amongst the most diverse in the country and we all benefit from the contributions of healthcare professionals from a wide range of backgrounds. A wide range of evidence however suggests that there is a very long way to go to make our working environments amongst the most inclusive. All of us within healthcare have a responsibility to address this and Medical Protection Society are therefore very pleased to support the Lived Experience project and NHS Resolution’s work in this area.
Dr Sarah Townley, Deputy Medical Director, Medical Protection Society
We know a good induction for IMGs is an essential first step in preventing problems and encouraging fair and early resolutions to concerns. That’s why I am working closely with the GMC and employers to embed the Welcoming and Valuing IMG standards for overseas graduates to drive positive change.
Professor Partha Kar, Clinical Adviser to the GMC on international medical graduate induction
Work trying to encourage case managers to use objective information when they can to assess the performance of a practitioner including benchmarking when appropriate.
Existing Memorandums of understanding with over 20 trusts / healthcare organisations: focus on engaging a BAPIO representative wherever there is a concern about an IMG doctor.
NHS England, Health Education England, the GMC, the British Medical Association (BMA), the Medical Protection Society (MPS) and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust have collaborated on the National Induction programme for international medical graduates (IMGs). This has produced a guide to induction for IMGs recruited to the NHS.
Involved in the development and promotion of the guide to induction for IMGs recruited to the NHS, produced by the above collaborative initiative.
MPS workshops. A series of online events aimed at IMGs currently in the UK or considering coming to the UK. Recordings of these sessions and other resources are available on a dedicated page on the MPS website.
Promoting the need for medical defence organisation membership to IMGs. Supporting the GMC’s Welcome to UK Practice programme; providing a speaker for a number of their events to explain the role of MDOs, the risks doctors in the UK face and the benefits of membership.
Published findings which demonstrates the extent to which IMGs are less likely to have legal representation when appearing before an Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing and also the extent to which doctors without legal representation are more likely to face a harsher sanction.
New single assessment framework has a quality statement, ‘Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion’ where expectations for providers are set out.
Developing approach to gathering evidence from staff under the new evidence category 'Feedback from staff and leaders', particularly for those members of the workforce who may experience greater workforce inequality.
