Inspectors must take account of challenges faced by ethnic minority GPs, say leaders

Regulatory system failures that leave ethnic minority GPs fearing Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections and being “harassed” by their demands have been confirmed by authoritative new evidence, say doctors’ leaders.

The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) said a new review of the oversight regime, published by the CQC which runs it, backed up its own findings of GPs’ experiences and the need for regulation to take their particular working conditions and support needs into account.1

BAPIO said, “Ethnic minority GPs often work in areas of complex need, high levels of deprivation, inadequate funding, and often are the targets of abuse and complaints. This toxic mix, compounded by systemic and regulatory biases, simply exacerbates the disparities in outcomes.”

The association urged the regulator to take a …