Doctors' arrests halted race bias research

Two doctors who exposed evidence of routine racial discrimination in the medical profession were arrested by fraud squad officers for their research methods and face possible disciplinary action by the General Medical Council.

Their study, to be published in tomorrow's British Medical Journal, found that NHS hospitals were twice as likely to shortlist candidates for medical jobs if they had Anglo-Saxon rather than Asian names. However, plans to extend the research project to teaching hospitals were brought to an abrupt halt when police arrested the doctors and advised them not to continue their research. Sam Everington and Ameez Esmail had sent off pairs of applications, virtually identical in terms of clinical experience and qualifications, for 23 senior house officer posts advertised last May. The only substantial difference concerned the ethnic origin suggested by the applicant's name.

Use of deception in scientific and policy research is long-established and has never been challenged on ethical grounds where there is no other way to test a theory. However, the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession, has warned the doctors they may yet be held to have acted in a manner 'that cannot be regarded as acceptable professional conduct'.

Charges of fraud were dropped last summer after the doctors explained the purpose of their research to police. The threat of a reprimand by the GMC, first raised in a letter to the doctors last November, is still hanging over them.

Allegations of racial discimination against black doctors trying to climb the career ladder in the UK are made regularly, but evidence has tended to be anecdotal.

The methods used in the study, funded by the Medical Practioners' Union, are defended by Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ, in an accompanying editorial.

'Stooges are used increasingly in research on how general practitioners and pharmacists perform, and some famous studies have depended on substantial deception,' he writes.

Dr Esmail, who teaches general practice at Manchester University, said the discrimination shown by the research was morally and legally wrong. 'The response of the medical establishment has been revealing. It is a scandal that discrimination is allowed to continue.'

Dr Everington, an east London GP, said out that although non-EC overseas doctors made up 25 per cent of the UK medical profession, they were poorly represented at senior levels. Of the 103 members of the GMC, seven are from ethnic minorities. He said: 'Inequality of opportunity in health services is widespread. If you are black or female, or you went to the wrong school, you are unlikely to get on.'

The doctors believe that NHS employers should remove the personal details that enable discrimination to take place during shortlisting.

The General Medical Council, which has refused the doctors' request to see the police report it was sent on the case, said yesterday that alleged racial discrimination in medicine was a matter for the employing authorities.

A spokesman also said that the council could not comment on what disciplinary action the doctors might face.