Dr Krishna Kasaraneni’s article in the December issue (‘The BMA has no choice but to back the legal challenge to the MRCGP’, pulsetoday.co.uk/opinion) implies that the BMA had no alternative but to give £25,000 to the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) to support its legal challenge over the MRCGP exam. I disagree. Cool heads were needed, not more petrol on the fire.
In September, the BMJ published a paper by Professor Aneez Esmail, in which he suggested the MRCGP exam process may be racially biased. The BMJ was right to publish the paper and the RCGP is right to defend itself. The BMA should then have sat down again with BAPIO and the RCGP to mediate and find a constructive way forward.
By taking sides, the BMA has divided the profession and played into the hands of the lawyers and the Government.
Dr Chris Woods is a GP in Bolton
