Costly efforts to widen access to medical profession are failing, says BMA

Efforts to widen access to the medical profession are failing, despite years of investment and initiatives aimed at opening the profession to people from all backgrounds.

Just over 15% of people entering medicine in the United Kingdom are from the four lowest socioeconomic groups, which make up just under half of the population, and that percentage has risen by only 1.7% over five years, says a new report published by the BMA.

Ministers are failing in their effort to make medicine an accessible career option for people from poorer backgrounds, says the report, which analyses the backgrounds of the UK’s 40 000 medical students.

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