FOI220222: Disciplinary processes and GMC referrals by ethnicity

Released 16 September 2022

Request:

1. How many doctors in the last 5 years have been placed under a formal Trust disciplinary process? If the full timeframe is not available, or data held for a different timeframe, please provide what is available.
2. How many doctors in the last 5 years have been referred to the General Medical Council? If the full timeframe is not available, or data held for a different timeframe, please provide what is available.
3. What proportion of these local disciplinaries and GMC referrals of doctors are made up of people of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities (BAME)? I am happy to receive raw numbers or a proportion of total referrals for each.

Information disclosed:

Please note University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been in operation since 1 April 2021, following the merger of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Since the reporting period relevant to your request covers periods of time both before and after the merger, the information provided has been combined and reflects information held by both legacy Trusts and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

When compiling this information we noticed some gaps in the data available to us. To ensure we provided accurate information in response to your request, we contacted the General Medical Council to confirm our numbers.

1 and 3.  During the period April 2017 – March 2022, a total of 17 doctors were placed under a formal disciplinary process; 53% of whom were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds (where indicated on the NHS Electronic Staff Record system).

2 and 3.  During the period April 2017 – March 2022, a total of 12 doctors were referred to the General Medical Council; 50% of whom were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds (where indicated on the NHS Electronic Staff Record system).

This data has been anonymised in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice.