The study coincides with two well-publicised instances of Indian doctors being charged with sexual harassment by their patients. Dr Prashant Nayak, 51, and married, has been billed a serial abuser. He was sentenced to three years in jail last week for having molested six women patients. The Liverpool-based doctor had allegedly groped his patients' breasts and molested them while making internal examinations, according to reports in the London press. He was cleared of charges brought against him by three other patients. In a similar case in Birmingham several years ago, an Indian doctor was jailed on charges of having raped a patient.
Likewise, 53-year-old Dr Nainakinti Reddy Ram has been charged with eight instances of sexual assault. In one case, the general practitioner reportedly complimented a woman patient on her breasts and jiggled them while saying "wobble, wobble". He then sat down and giggled, the patient told the Durham county court. While other patients related similar stories—that Ram won their confidence and then sexually molested them—he has denied the charges. The trial is under way.
The research, conducted by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI), shows that while the proportion of overseas qualified doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) is 25 per cent, they account for 58 per cent of the cases brought before the GMC's Professional Conduct Committee (PCC). "Since the majority of overseas qualified doctors are Asian, around 17,000 of them, we think there is racial discrimination involved. But it is hard to prove in individual cases," said Dr Akrim Sayeed, chairman of the Manchester-based Overseas Doctors' Association (ODA).
The GMC, which regulates the medical profession in Britain, commissioned the study to provide evidence to its Racial Equality Group. This was set up in 1994 to probe allegations of racial discrimination against non-white doctors. The results of the PSI research are inconclusive, according to the Group's chairperson, Rani Atma. While it clearly establishes that overseas qualified doctors are more likely to be referred to medical disciplinary bodies, particularly in cases where the complaint comes from persons acting in a public capacity rather than from patients, it did not offer any reasons to establish why this should be so.바카라 웹사이트
"The PSI report could not provide many answers about the central issue of whether there is racial bias...they state there is no evidence of overt bias, but cannot, on the basis of data available, explain the proportionately higher number of cases pursued against doctors from ethnic minorities," the Racial Equality Group commented. "There are a lot of variables. You can speculate, but only a prospective study can explain why so many Asian doctors appear before the PCC," Atma said. She also suggests a parallel study on complaints against Asian doctors who qualify in England rather than overseas.
The PSI report further suggested that the GMC's procedures for handling complaints against doctors should be more transparent, to avoid charges of racial discrimination. The Racial Equality Group pointed out that there were lacunae in the collection and recording of data in cases of unprofessional conduct, but GMC spokesperson Vincent Burke said steps were being taken to rectify the complaints procedure.
Sayeed feels that racial discrimination starts at the time of registration. The GMC gives two kinds of licences: full registration which allows the doctor to practice independently and limited registration, which means he can only practice under supervision. While the GMC claims that ethnic grouping has nothing to do with this process, Sayeed says it is easier for a South African white doctor to get full registration than for an Asian. Yet Asian doctors often have good professional reputations (Nayak's character witnesses included the Bishop of Liverpool and another priest).
The GMC does not currently maintain any records of ethnic grouping while registering doctors. The ODA is demanding ethnic monitoring both at the time of registration and processing complaints. In cases where disciplinary action is to be taken against an overseas qualified doctor, the ODA should form part of a committee to review the case against him, Sayeed maintains.
Atma observes: "We believe the GMC should send a clear signal that racial discrimination is abhorrent and has no place in any part of the medical profession".바카라 웹사이트
