Swindon GP says race was factor in failed job application

Dr Jason Seewoodhary said he is concerned about the recruitment process for senior roles

A GP who believes that his race was a factor in a failed job application for a senior role, has called for changes to the recruitment process.

Dr Jason Seewoodhary said black and minority ethnic doctors leave Swindon because they do not feel they have a realistic chance of being promoted.

He said this is partly why the town has seen a shortage of GP appointments.

NHS Health Education England said it could not comment on the case but was "committed to improving recruitment".

Dr Seewoodhary said he felt that "race was a confounding factor" in his unsuccessful application for a role as a GP training programme director in Swindon.

"What concerns me is that the recruitment process was flawed because they didn't implement equality and diversity measures," he said.

"Therefore we cannot be certain that the recruitment wasn't confounded and someone was appointed based on characteristics that I don't have and maybe more favourable to a panel unconscious biases," he added.

Josephine Fliski from Healthwatch Swindon said it was the "general consensus" in Swindon that it was difficult to get an appointment

The GP said that between 40-50% of GP trainees are from black and minority ethnic groups but the six training programme managers are white British.

"We train doctors, we invest in them, but these doctors feel that there isn't a realistic prospect of promotion and therefore move to places that are more diverse and that leaves patients in Swindon struggling to get an appointment," he added.

Healthwatch Swindon's Josephine Fliski said residents find it "very difficult" to get in touch with surgeries to make an appointment.

"They are then finding that the appointments offered aren't suitable because they are weeks and weeks down the line," she added.

Health Education England said that it was unable to comment because a complaint has been escalated for review.

Geoff Smith, regional postgraduate dean and responsible officer for the South West, said: "We are committed to improving our recruitment processes to ensure that the best and most able candidate is appointed through a fair and inclusive process.

"Steps we are taking to improve our recruitment process include training panel members, the introduction of cultural ambassadors for recruitment, representative panels and taking steps to develop a training faculty that is more representative of our doctors in postgraduate training programmes."