Black and minority ethnic pharmacists' treatment in the UK: A systematic review

Pharmacists from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds represent a significant proportion of the United Kingdom (UK) pharmacy profession. While there is evidence that BME doctors may be discriminated against in employment and regulatory practices, little is known about the treatment of BME pharmacists.

To identify published evidence on the disproportionate treatment in employment and regulatory practices of BME pharmacists in the UK. Evidence was sought in four specific domains: recruitment (into the profession); progression; retention (within sector and profession) and regulation.

The following databases were searched: Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, SIGLE and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were: English language only, published between 1993 and 2014 and reporting UK-based findings.

The search strategy identified 11 pertinent items; 6 peer-reviewed articles, 2 published reports, 2 conference papers and one PhD thesis. In employment practices, there was some evidence that BME pharmacists are over-represented among owners and under-represented amongst senior management in the community sector. BME pharmacists reported more difficulties in getting their first job. BME pharmacists were over-represented in disciplinary processes but there was no evidence of disproportionate treatment in the outcomes of inquiries.

Only a small number of studies have been published in this area, and the evidence of disproportionate treatment of BME pharmacists is equivocal. Further research is needed to better understand the role of ethnicity in recruitment, retention, progression and regulation.