Landmark BMA report warns of mass exodus by medics and calls on health bosses to address discrimination
is in danger of a mass exodus of black, Asian and minority ethnic doctors due to “persistent” and “intolerable” levels of racism in the workplace, a landmark report warns.
Its publication comes on the opening day of the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Liverpool, where thousands of NHS leaders are meeting to wrestle with issues faced by the health service after the Covid-19 pandemic. The most pressing issue is the mounting workforce crisis, with the NHS short of thousands of doctors and desperately struggling to retain or recruit medics.
As a result of racial discrimination, 42% of black and 41% of Asian doctors have considered leaving or have left work in the past two years. “It is deeply concerning that so many of those surveyed did not report racism, either out of fear of recrimination, being labelled a troublemaker or a lack of confidence it would be properly investigated. This means that doctors are suffering in silence, and the true extent of racism is neither exposed nor addressed.