Creating the long-lasting change we need to see won’t be easy, but together we can create the conditions that will make that possible.
We know from our previous research and data that sometimes people can receive different outcomes from our regulatory processes based on who they are – for example, professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to be referred to us for fitness to practise. We want to understand why there are these differences and, where unfairness arises, take action to stop it.
In 2019, we launched Ambitious for change – a programme of research aimed at understanding - and ultimately reducing - disparities experienced by professionals with different protected characteristics in our regulatory processes. In the first phase, we looked at our education, overseas registration, revalidation, and fitness to practise processes to find out if professionals with different diversity characteristics received different outcomes from them. The second phase focused on understanding why the differences in revalidation and referrals to fitness to practise were happening.
We’ve used these findings to make changes to the supporting information and guidance for professionals on our website (on revalidation for example) and we’ve also changed how we communicate with professionals to ensure we provide clearer and more regular information across our newsletters, emails and social media posts. We’ve also shared our insights about disparities in employer referrals with organisations we work with to better understand how they reduce bias and ensure fairness in their referrals.
The third phase has focused on helping us understand differences in fitness to practise case progression and outcomes for some professionals. It has found that men are referred more often for very serious concerns and tend not to demonstrate insight or remediation – making it more likely for them to receive more severe outcomes. It’s also highlighted concerning disparities in how our fitness to practise (FtP) process is experienced by Black and/or male professionals.
