Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) welcomes the formal apology and reiterates its commitment to supporting the diverse paediatric workforce and their patients.
RCPCH President, Dr Camilla Kingdon, said:
Today’s apology will not undo the untold harm to doctors who were unjustly punished under homophobic laws, but it does mark a profound step forward in taking accountability for and learning from historic wrongs.
As a Royal College we also have a duty to hold a mirror up to ourselves, look at whether we truly reflect the breadth and diversity of our membership and ask ourselves how we can constantly improve for our LGBTQ+ colleagues and patients. Over the last three years we have strengthened our position on many equalities, diversity and inclusion issues that impact children and young people, and of course paediatricians.
I am pleased to say that later this year we will be developing a set of our own College statements on different protected characteristics to better outline our commitment to supporting the diversity of our membership. We know that there is still so much to learn and that this stream of work is ever ongoing.
Over the coming months we plan to gather up examples of the great work that is already happening around the UK to provide paediatricians with best practice examples for ensuring equality, diversity and inclusivity in their working lives. We remain deeply committed to making equality, diversity and inclusivity everyone’s business.
Read more about RCPCH’s equality, diversity and inclusion work