The GMC has launched a new hub aimed at providing assistance to doctors who experience racism and discrimination at work.
The resource gathers current GMC guidance on tackling discrimination in a workplace, either as an individual or as a bystander.
It comes as a recent BMA survey showed that 76% of doctors had experienced racism in their workplace in the past two years.
The GMC hub directs people to a variety of support channels and underlines the responsibilities senior doctors and medical leaders have when it comes to addressing and eliminating discrimination.
The hub recognises and concentrates on the areas doctors often query, such as witnessing racism or reporting any concerns of harassment, the GMC said.
The hub also includes case studies of real-life situations where doctors have experienced explicit discrimination or micro-aggressions, and offers advice on how those situations could be tackled.
GMC medical director and director of education and standard Professor Colin Melville said: ‘We are clear: there is zero tolerance for racism of any kind, and we all have a responsibility to act when we witness it.
‘We understand speaking up in the moment or acting upon racist behaviour in the workplace can be challenging or daunting, so it’s important for support and guidance to be readily available and easily accessible.
‘Equally, we must encourage working cultures where doctors feel supported and empowered to speak up, if discrimination of any kind does take place.’
The BMA warned in June that racism experienced by ethnic minority doctors is pushing them to leave healthcare.
Its survey showed that overseas-trained ethnic minority doctors were more likely to have experienced racism in the workplace in the last two years (84%) than their UK-trained counterparts (69%).
In May, Health Education England also revealed ‘shocking’ evidence of ‘appalling’ levels of racism towards GPs in London.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
