GMC Enters Phase Two Of Its Ethnicity Census

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 29 Jun 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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As part of its ongoing commitment to diversity, and to achieve a complete picture of all doctors on the UK register, the GMC is beginning the second phase of its ethnicity census.

Following a positive response to the first stage of the initiative, and having collected 72% of ethnicity data for practising doctors in the UK, the GMC will now be focusing on obtaining data from 27,000 doctors living or working overseas. In order to collect the remaining data, a secure online survey facility has been implemented in order to make the task easier and more efficient.

Of the doctors living or working overseas, there are more registered doctors in South Africa than any other country (4,407). This is followed by Australia (3,326) and Germany (1,887). Doctors holding UK registration can also be found in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, from Brazil to Fiji.

The census will help the GMC to determine whether doctors are currently in practice as well as their ethnicity. No single organisation holds accurate ethnicity data about the UK's 240,000 doctors. As the regulator, the GMC needs this information to fulfil specific statutory duties under the Race Relations Act. The ethnicity census, at its launch, attracted a range of high profile support from organisations such as the BMA (British Medical Association) and BAPIO (British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin).

The GMC recognises that this is sensitive information. The data collected will not be available on the medical register or in any publicly available database. The GMC has received the ISO 27001 certification from the British Standards Institute; compliance with this standard provides assurance that the GMC is using best practice in handling information safely and securely.

Sir Graeme Catto, President of the General Medical Council, said, 'We are delighted with the response to the ethnicity census so far. We are committed to completing the picture of all doctors on the UK register, in order to fulfil our responsibilities as the regulator of a trusted and diverse profession. We are asking for help from those remaining doctors who have yet to submit their data to enable us to do just that.'

The following countries are home to the most UK-registered doctors:

1. South Africa (4407)
2. Australia (3326)
3. Germany (1887)
4. ROI (1604)
5. USA (1594)
6. Hong Kong (1385)
7. Canada (1362)
8. Greece (1141)
9. India (908)
10. Poland (755)

The General Medical Council licenses doctors to practise medicine in the UK. Our purpose is summed up in the phrase:

Regulating doctors
Ensuring good medical practice.

The law gives us four main functions:

- keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
- fostering good medical practice
- promoting high standards of medical education
- dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt

General Medical Council