In the plenary, I took the opportunity to Highlight the current context; Provide some definitions; Highlight issues around the lack of progress with diversity education; Consider the issues and possible actions we can take to rise to the challenges that face diversity and inclusion in medical education.

As many of the audience at the meeting will be aware, equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) remain a challenge in medical education. There are many who would argue that the conversations around EDI are political or that EDI has been addressed and issues such as racism are on the decline. There are counterarguments that to really make progress in this area, we need to be more aware of the past and understand the good and the bad to be able to successfully move forward.

We continue to have variation across medical curricula about how these issues are raised and addressed. There are examples of good practice, but overall, there has been a lack of effective senior medical leadership and especially from the GMC from my perspective. This has meant that progress in medical education and EDI has been slow.

Whilst we can all reflect on our own practice in education and health care delivery to ensure we incorporate principles of EDI into all aspects of our work, sustainable change can only happen if there is a systematic and systemic approach to this in all medical organisations. Understandably, delegates want practical solutions to help them negotiate the challenges, and this is an important aspect of medical education. However, this leads to a somewhat piecemeal approach and is heavily dependent on individuals rather than the organisation changing how it operates. In EDI, actions speak louder than words. It is not enough for an organisation to, for example, say that they support Black Lives Matter. They should actively demonstrate the steps they are taking to ensure every aspect of their function considers EDI as an integral part of the process and not as an afterthought.

Organisations must also demonstrate their responses when concerns are raised. Too often we hear about the inadequate ways in which concerns were addressed if they were heard at all. Yet there is then surprise that there is little confidence in the process or the organisation. An ineffective policy is much the same as having no policy.

As we reflect on our own behaviour, we should also be holding medical leaders and organisations to account about the actions they are taking with respect to EDI. In turn, we must ensure that we are all part of the conversations and help about bringing cultural change that enables EDI to be more regularly and widely discussed as an integral part of how we operate. This in turn means that we need to create a safe environment for us to be able to make mistakes and learn. Unless we take these steps, all the good intentions may yield little progress.