Widening participation in medicine and medical leadership
By Dr Rammina Yassaie
FMLM Trainee Steering Group representative for the North, NHS Regional Clinical Leadership Fellow, and GP ST2 in Harrogate
“There is no shortage of talent in those from widening participation backgrounds, they are just getting filtered out right from the start”.
These are the words from Dr Anbreen Bi, Chair of the Widening Participation Medics Network who spoke at the FMLM Trainee Steering Group’s ninth leadership development webinar, which took place this week.
Widening participation in medicine is often thought as referring simply to accessing medical school. However, we know that the financial struggles many medical students and junior doctors face continue through medical school and beyond. As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, there is a real concern that more students from diverse backgrounds will be forced away from a career in medicine and ultimately a career in medical leadership.
We hear of organisations that strive to increase the diversity of their workforce, including their medical leadership. However, research by the Social Mobility Commission (and quoted by The King’s Fund’s Diversity in the medical workforce in 2020) revealed only around four per cent of doctors in Britain come from a working class background[1], suggesting the pool of candidates from which these organisations can choose is nowhere near diverse enough.
Widening access to medical schools has improved in recent years with increases in ‘access’ and ‘gateway’ courses, which have started to attract students from more deprived neighbourhoods. Health Education England is also developing proposals for apprenticeship routes into medicine as a potential tool for widening participation [2]. The NHS People Plan in England commits to increasing diversity of the NHS workforce, which on the one hand is positive, but a close inspection of the #liveableNHSbursery hashtag on social media will reveal how many students, as well as early-career doctors, are fearful that they may not be able to survive financially to achieve a career in medicine.
It is now understood that workforce diversity is crucial for increasing productivity and innovation; both of which are imperative at a time of NHS transformation. Additionally, the workforce must represent the populations it serves to build trust and understanding with local communities and improve health outcomes. In that respect, workforce diversity is critical for meaningfully tackling health inequalities, a key NHS priority. This illustrates that there is not only a moral case to ensure medicine and medical leadership is diverse and inclusive, but there is business case for it too.
The Widening Participation Medics Network webinar this week has highlighted how much more there is to do to break down barriers and inspire future leaders in medicine from all backgrounds. However, the story is also one of hope and inspiration; if our young leaders, as doctors in training, are filled with such ambition for a brighter, fairer future for medics and aspiring medical leaders, then we are on the right path.
[1] Social Mobility Commission: State of the Nation 2016: Social Mobility in Great Britain https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/569410/Social_Mobility_Commission_2016_REPORT_WEB__1__.pdf
[2]Accessed at https://www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/doctors-could-qualify-without-doing-trad...