British Association Of Physicians Of Indian Origin Research Articles

Medical Associate Professionals in the UK

Anyone who has any connection with the world of social media will be aware of the ‘storm in a teacup’ that has been brewing in the last few months with Medical Associate / Assistant Professionals (MAPs) in the UK as Parliament debated and swiftly passed legislation1 related to their regulation by the UK General Medical Council. In its supporting statement, the UK Minister for Health2 specified,
 
 ‘Physician associates work under the supervision of doctors taking medical histories, carrying out physical examinations, performing some medical procedures and analysing test results. Anaesthesia associates review patients before surgery, initiate and manage medications, administer fluids and blood therapy during surgery, and ensure there is a plan for patients following their operation. Both roles can work autonomously, but always under the supervision of a fully trained and experienced doctor.’
 The legislation was passed in the UK Parliament in Feb24 and will be in force from Dec’24.
 The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) is leading a survey 17and workshop designed to have a 360-degree review of the impact of MAPs on training and career progression for all doctors, including the missing voice of several thousands of doctors who are not in formal training, are locally employed on shorter-term contracts, are considered as speciality doctors by the GMC. A vast proportion of these doctors are international medical graduates, and a significant proportion belong to cohorts who are under-represented in leadership positions (including those that were previously considered from Black or minority ethnic groups). The workshops and focus groups will include representation from all under-represented groups of doctors across the spectrum, patient representatives, nursing, and allied healthcare professionals who form an integral part of the MDT, medical leaders, higher education institutions, NHS workforce Training and Education and NHS employers. The results of the independently facilitated focus groups and survey results will be published with recommendations for all stakeholders in May 2024, and aim to provide a framework for action, reflecting consultation and views of the whole healthcare profession.

Dignity at Work Standards for the Healthservice

BAPIO (British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) as an organisation actively promotes the diversity, equality and inclusion of all healthcare professionals. As an organisation which encompasses a majority of ethnic minority members, we hear the unfortunate experiences of bullying, harassment and discrimination that takes place in numerous healthcare settings within the UK. In response to these lived experiences, a committee was appointed to establish a set of standards, to foster dignity within the workplace, using the large body of literature documents available. The ambition of this project is to advocate and advertise for an environment that is free from bullying and harassment and to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards bullying or harassment. We aim to do this by developing, implementing, and evaluating our Dignity@Work Standards. The Standards constitutes of 8 different domains for all healthcare professionals including managerial members to adopt in clinical practice. These domains include: Environment & Culture - ensuring the workplace environment remains a safe place for professionals to raise concerns, be treated fairly and one with dignity for all. Cultural Intelligence - acknowledging and raising awareness of the impacts of culture and diversity on dignity and accounting for intersectionality in the workplace. Organisational Interventions - highlighting the role of the organisation in accommodating the appropriate resources to eradicate behaviours of bullying and harassment. Communication & Interactions - encouraging respectful interactions between staff and creating a safe workplace to communicate any workplace issues. Monitoring & Accountability - adopting a collaborative approach to routinely monitor the standards of behaviour in the workplace and being held accountable for any failures Metrics - collection of data from the workforce to be able to understand the lived experiences of the workplace. Concerns & Grievances - having a transparent process to raise concerns and ensuring the same process is applied to all members of staff. Support - provision of the appropriate support for all staff that are a victim of bullying and harassment. Our preliminary vision of the Standards is to create a document that defines the gold standard for dignity in the workplace. The Standards incorporates the diversity of the workforce and ensures consideration is given to the intersectionality of already known determinants of bullying and harassment within the workplace. The COVID-19 pandemic has created increased pressure on the workforce of the National Health Service and with this pressure has come unacceptable working standards, inappropriate behaviour within staff, increasing reports of bullying and harassment and more staff leaving the NHS than ever before. It is therefore crucial to act now in order to eradicate bullying and harassment within the healthcare setting. We know and appreciate that collaboration is the cornerstone to progress and we encourage working with core leaders within the UK healthcare system to create this change. Together we will deliver.

Post traumatic growth during COVID-19: unity in diversity

AimsThis poster reflects how the experience of staying with people of diverse nations and cultural background helped the stranded IMGs cope with this agony in a foreign land during an unprecedented tumultuous situation. The aim is to show that despite diversity among people, the hard times made them unite and overcome countless difficulties.BackgroundThe COVID 19 pandemic has been a period of global health crisis and has exponentially affected mental health issues in the world population. In these difficult times, several International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who had come to the UK to attend their PLAB exams, were left stranded as the exams were postponed, flights cancelled and borders sealed. Faced with huge uncertainty their mental health was of great concern.At this time the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) came forward to help this cohort of stranded doctors in terms of accommodation, finances, mental health support, preparation for exams to the extent of liaising with General Medical Council (GMC) and Home Office. The virtual support group provided a platform for IMGs from different nations and cultures to get in touch with each other helping overcome mental burden and stress.The stories presented in the poster show how unity in diversity helped these young doctors deal with mental trauma amidst the Pandemic.Method276 doctors from 27 countries were looked after by BAPIO. From those excerpts taken from 26 IMGs, personal narratives was used as a method for qualitative assessment.The percentage of IMGs clearing their exams and getting jobs in the NHS has been used for quantitative assessment.ResultQualitative: The personal narratives of the IMGs show how they were positively impacted by staying together albeit different nationalities and cultural background.Quantitative: A total of 21 IMGs out of the 26 cleared their PLAB 2 exams and got registration under General Medical Council giving a percentage of 81.7%. 20 IMGs have successfully joined the NHS in various posts giving a job success rate of 95.2%.ConclusionThe experience of living and sharing housings with people from different nationalities, has increased appreciation and also prepared them to work in the NHS which has a diverse work force. This learning experience has been integral for all of us in shaping our life in the UK making everyone more compassionate.

Differential Attainment in Career Progression for Doctors in the UK

Differential attainment in career progression in the NHS is a complex issue with many interplaying factors apart from individual protected characteristics. In this paper, we examine the attainment gap, causes for these disparities and some recommendations to reduce the gap. Our review shows that there is significant DA between groups of doctors on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race and country of primary medical qualification. The likely causes are bias, lack of opportunity, poor supervision, mentorship, sponsorship, dichotomous treatment of doctors based on training or non-training status and cultural exclusion. Data is not monitored or reported and there is little organisational accountability. Solutions are likely to include transparent data on recruitment as well as progression for benchmarking, training support for all doctors, initiatives which are sensitive to gender, parental responsibility, cultural heritage, language and robust supervision including mentorship and sponsorship. This scoping review forms part of the Alliance for Equality in Healthcare Professions project on Differential Attainment chaired by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and will be integrated into the Bridging the Gap project undertaken by BAPIO Institute for Health Research (BIHR). This work is part of six domains of doctors' careers in the NHS.

Supporting Stranded Migrant Doctors in the UK during Covid-19 Pandemic

The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) undertook a humanitarian project to come to the aid of several migrant doctors who were in the UK to take the Professional & Linguistic Assessment Board’s (PLAB) part 2 clinical examination, and had become stranded due to the lockdown during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. The BAPIO PLAB stranded doctors’ project started as a serendipitous exercise in the third week of March 2020 with first a handful of migrant doctors, until it reached a peak of 267 doctors from 19 countries, and involved collaboration with multiple voluntary organisations, stakeholders, regulatory agencies and governments.
 There was no denying the complexity and intricacy of the demands on the stranded doctors, but it was even more pleasing to witness how the project team were more than ready to meet the challenges. Under the umbrella of BAPIO, the project team doctors, who previously had barely known each other, took on all the challenges - teaching, pastoral support, career advice, writing curriculum vitae, finding food, accommodation and funds for those in need; organising professional support, links with the General Medical Council, the High Commission of India and the U.K. Home Office. The project was concluded on 19 September, with all the doctors either returning home or making a decision to work in the NHS when conditions allowed them to.
 It is not possible to know how many passed their PLAB part 2 exams, but we estimated that over 50% did. The weekly virtual meetings, the camaraderie, the scale of the project, and most importantly bringing it to a closure without any major crisis, was only possible through sheer determination, understanding the needs, professionalism, leadership and excellent communication. The lessons from this project are important to illustrate the role of voluntary organisations (such as BAPIO) and the effectiveness of having established collaborative networks with official bodies and government agencies, for the future benefit migrant professionals.

Covid-19: Disparities and Lessons learned

The first virtual mid-year conference organised by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) was held on the 19 September 2020 hosted by the BAPIO North-West regional chapter. The conference digital platform used was Gurukul Education (https://gurukuleducation.online/). There were 736 registrations and 178 attended through the virtual conference hall and 803 attended the live streaming viewing facility. The conference was focused on aspects of Covid-19, from the current status in the UK and India, public health aspects of the pandemic, vulnerability of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population, initiatives taken to reduce the impact on general practice or mental health services and routine non-Covid care. Strategies on the reduction of risk in the workplace, formal risk assessments, promotion of a healthy lifestyle and wider societal education initiatives were incorporated. The need for ongoing research in differential adverse outcomes in BAME population was evident, as well as in prevention measures such as vaccination.

Differential Attainment in Leadership Roles in the UK NHS

Aim – to review the evidence on differential attainment in leadership positions in the NHS and develop an expert consensus
 In this review we will explore in-depth, the current data surrounding differential attainment in leadership roles in the UK NHS, possible reasons for these disparities, and what interventions may address this inequality. This scoping review forms part of the Alliance for Equality in Healthcare Professions project on DA chaired by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and will be integrated into the Bridging the Gap project undertaken by BAPIO Institute for Health Research (BIHR).

Tackling Differential Attainment in Summative Assessments

Differential Attainment or Outcomes or award (DA) is a euphemistic phrase that describes the historical and persistent differences in award levels based on factors other than academic/ professional capability or effort. The impact of this endemic discrimination of affected individuals/ groups has a profound impact on careers and wellbeing on a personal (micro) level on them, productivity, team-working or patient safety impact at organisational (meso) level and at a much larger societal/ socio-economic level (macro) level for the country.
 This roundtable sponsored jointly by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is the first of a series of events organised by the BAPIO Institute for Health Research (BIHR) exploring DA across the journey of a medical professional from entry to medical school all the way to retirement.
 This roundtable is focussed on DA as observed in summative assessments in high stakes professional examinations, which are essential for entry, progression, or accreditation. The findings and recommendations of this series will be published in the rainbow paper “Bridging the Gap” celebrating diversity in the NHS. This report should be read in conjunction with the scoping paper which presents the evidence base for the discussion and recommendations.

Covid-19: Ministers urged to waive £993 visa bill for "stranded" doctors who had exams cancelled.

Medical bodies have urged the home secretary to extend the visas of around 200 doctors who were left stranded in the UK when the General Medical Council postponed its exams because of the covid-19 pandemic. The BMA wrote a letter to Priti Patel which was co-signed by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the Association of Pakistani Physicians of Northern Europe, the Nepalese Doctors Association, the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain, and the British International Doctors’ Association. The letter said that more than 3000 doctors were waiting to take their second Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB 2) test—the final assessment needed before overseas doctors are granted licence to practise in the UK. …

RCGP will work with international doctors on membership exam issues

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) will work with international doctors’ organisations to address issues relating to its entrance exam. The college said that it would work with the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and the British International Doctors Association (BIDA) to support candidates. BAPIO had previously brought a legal challenge against the RCGP and the General Medical Council over the examination for membership of the RCGP (MRCGP). In April a High Court judge ruled that the …

Border control

The government wants to bar doctors from beyond the European Union from gaining postgraduate medical training places in the United Kingdom. <b>Edwin Borman</b>, from the BMA’s international committee, <b>Ramesh Mehta</b>, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), and <b>Graham Winyard</b>, a former postgraduate dean and deputy chief medical officer discuss the government’s policy with <i>BMJ</i> features editor <b>Deborah Cohen</b>