Racism in healthcare

The RACGP is committed to understanding more about member and patient experiences of racism and building our capacity to monitor, measure and act on racism to foster a healthcare system free from racism. This year, GPs were asked about their experiences of racism within the healthcare system over the past 12 months.

When asked about racism within the healthcare system, nearly one third (30%) of practising GPs have observed racism towards patients within the broader healthcare system. More than one in 10 (14%) GPs reported witnessing racism towards a patient within their own practice. Nearly two in 10 practising GPs (18%) say they have personally experienced racism from a patient within their practice in the past 12 months and one in 10 have personally experienced racism from a colleague in their practice.

While the majority (63%) of practising GPs feel confident in dealing with racism, one in 10 GPs (11%) indicated they do not feel confident in their ability to address racism. Twenty-six per cent of GPs indicated ‘neither agree nor disagree’ when asked if they felt confident addressing and challenging racism within the healthcare system.