Skip to content
ClearESC

EDI Plan: Our objectives

Publication date: 04 September 2024

Objective 1: Tackling discrimination

We will...

Create an environment acknowledging and celebrating diversity, embracing differences among members and employees. Support members to feel valued, respected and welcomed, and foster a sense of belonging within the College community. Implement inclusive practices and policies that accommodate diverse needs and perspectives. Take a proactive approach to address barriers and discrimination. Ensure the College becomes a leading advocate for equality and diversity and implements this within the organisation and the broader primary care community. 

Lady with pink hair smiling at another lady sitting in front of her. Both women are in a GP practice.

Our actions for Objective 1

  • Develop and communicate, internally and externally, an inclusive culture statement highlighting the importance of EDI and belonging.
  • Promote procedures and share awareness for reporting incidents of harassment and discrimination and of how employees will be supported.
  • Conduct and log Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) for new initiatives, including policies and events.
  • Facilitate completion of EIAs for member-facing events and relevant initiatives.
  • Conduct a comprehensive programme of continuous improvement in digital accessibility via the Digital Accessibility Working Group, ensuring all our websites and digital systems are as accessible as possible and maintaining open communication channels with members to support accessibility provisions and enhancements.
  • Ensure that our College spaces and events are welcoming to all and that we can enable all our members and staff to feel at ‘home’ in our College, including developing the ground floor and member lounge.
  • As a College, highlight issues of discrimination against GPs.

Objective 2: Leadership and continuous learning

We will...

Encourage diverse representation at leadership levels and promote a culture of ongoing learning, development, and growth. Support employees and members in realising their potential. Provide targeted support for areas requiring focus and supporting international medical graduates throughout their careers.

A woman sitting in a group at an RCGP members' ceremony with a toddler on her lap

Our actions for Objective 2

  • Take action to increase the diversity of those applying for national leadership roles in Council, the Trustee Board and their committees by creating conditions to widen the diversity of candidates, building leadership capacity amongst underrepresented groups and increasing transparency on roles.
  • Provide regular professional development and workshops on EDI topics for members and employees to increase awareness and understanding. Consideration should be given on how to optimise delivery for neurodiversity and digital accessibility.
  • Provide leadership training on EDI topics, focusing on promoting inclusive leadership practices.
  • Ensure that inclusion issues (including health inequalities) are appropriately covered in the curriculum and exam, that the impact of DA continues to be monitored within examinations, training and registration, and that work is done to support trainees and systems to address these issues.
  • Ensure that health inequalities and principles of equality, diversity and inclusion remain well-covered within the RCGP curriculum and the MRCGP examination.
  • Provide robust support to our EDI leads by equipping them with the necessary resources and opportunities for professional development. Empower them to serve as ambassadors and leaders, driving meaningful progress in our EDI efforts across the organisation.
  • Play a leading role in mentoring and tackling any barriers and discrimination faced by international medical graduates (IMGs) and GPs from minority groups throughout their careers.
  • Develop specific programmes and resources to support IMGs, particularly as they enter and undertake the three-year GP training programme.

Objective 3: Transparency and information sharing

We will...

Foster transparency in all processes, including awareness, training, and data analysis. Enabling open communication and acting upon feedback received from members and employees. Enabling declaration of their protected characteristics voluntarily and comfortably. Use data analysis to identify trends and gaps in representation to guide our EDI efforts.

Three women laughing and smiling, all wearing coats and scarves. Two women are holding coffee cups.

Our actions for Objective 3

  • Develop the existing EDI information hub on the main public website, to provide more case studies, information, resources, and updates.
  • Regularly communicate progress and outcomes of EDI initiatives to ensure transparency and accountability and to identify learning points and areas for change or development.
  • Increase opportunities for members and employees to share their diverse experiences and perspectives.
  • Capture and analyse, publish and review data relating to EDI, including membership statistics and examination results and gender breakdown in our workforce and use this to inform decision-making.
  • Extend and expand data collection for members and employees to improve the ability to report based on protected characteristics.
  • Collaborate with external organisations and communities to promote EDI and exchange best practices.
  • Provide a regular report to address the GMC’s Fairer Training Initiative.

Objective 4: Awareness and understanding

We will...

Foster a sense of community among members, providing a platform for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to create an environment where individuals feel valued and supported. Provide EDI resources and training to promote understanding and awareness of different cultures and perspectives. Take a fair, proactive approach to promoting equity, diversity and inclusivity. Using our influence internally and externally to tackle areas requiring focus and development, such as sexual harassment in the workplace, ensuring fairness of approach to ethnic minority GPs and their practices by the regulators, and the need for equitable data reporting.

Four people decorated with flowers, face paint and colourful clothes as they celebrate a Pride event.

Our actions for Objective 4

  • Celebrate and promote diversity through internal and external communication channels and supporting events that outwardly show our support for our communities (e.g. Pride).
  • To review awards and celebration events to ensure they are relevant and appropriate for all our GP members, including those from minority groups.
  • Recognise and celebrate individuals and teams contributing to EDI efforts within the College and its membership.
  • Bring together and share good practices on protected characteristic issues, including sexual harassment issues for GPs in the workplace.
  • Ensure each directorate has a supported EDI lead/champion for their area.
  • Review existing assessments to reflect the demographics of UK patient populations to inform new cases for the future clinical skills assessment.

Get involved with EDI at the RCGP

Express your interest in taking on an advocacy role for your Faculty.

Form for Faculty advocacy roles

You can also join the EDI group on the RCGP members' forum.

EDI on the RCGP forum

Explore our special interest groups for more opportunities.

Our special interest groups

Strictly necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as page navigation and access to secure areas. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.

Analytical cookies

We use software including Google Analytics to help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone.

Marketing cookies

These cookies are used to show you ads that are relevant to you, limit the number of times you see them, and measure their performance. They are usually placed by third parties, such as advertising networks, with our permission.