Its roles, which have included medical education, discussion forums and supporting physicians in difficulty, have led to its involvement in some high-profile court cases and debates.

BAPIO recruits its membership predominantly from doctors of Indian sub-continental origin including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

In 2017, secretary Dr Hasmukh Shah said: "Britain's proposed exit from the Europe Union allows us in Wales to renew the historical links between the Indian subcontinent and the NHS”.

[1] According to them, unconscious bias in the NHS and differences in soft skills are some of the factors behind the disparity between non-UK trained and UK-trained doctors being referred for General Medical Council performance.

The judge added that the government was not obliged to consult beforehand with BAPIO, and despite the home office failing to carry out racial equality assessments, "quashing" the regulations would not be justified.

[citation needed] In 2013 the Association launched a legal challenge to the regulator, the General Medical Council, and the standards body, the Royal College of General Practitioners, alleging that the clinical skills assessment component of the Membership exam was discriminatory and seeking a judicial review of the way the RCGP conducts the test, because there is a "significant difference in pass rates which cannot be explained by a lack of any knowledge, skill or competency on the part of the International Medical Graduates".

[11] Mr Justice John Mitting presiding over the case said that the Royal College of General Practitioners was neither racially discriminatory nor in breach of its public sector equality duty.

He said he was satisfied that the CSA "put south Asians of both categories [UK-educated and those who studied overseas] at a disadvantage" but he described the assessment itself as "proportionate" and designed to achieve "legitimate ends".

She stated that “the RCGP has been at the forefront of identifying the differences in pass rates for some time” and they “were the first of the Medical Royal Colleges to publicly raise this issue” and commission research into the cause of the discrepancies.