The GMC and Clinical Governance

A communication from the General Medical Council
May 2004, Issue 1

What's New?

Welcome from the President

Sir Graeme CattoWelcome to the first edition of the GMC's new e-bulletin. The bulletin aims to bring you regular monthly updates on our reform programme.

If you work in clinical governance, you need to know about the changes we are making to the way we regulate doctors and how they fit with the wider clinical governance framework.

If you have a more general interest in the work of the GMC, we hope you will also find useful information here.

Please forward this bulletin to your colleagues so they can subscribe and receive future editions direct.

We look forward to hearing your feedback.

Sir Graeme Catto
President

The GMC & clinical governance

We are an integral part of the clinical governance framework. With our partners, we work to ensure high standards of professional practice and to protect patients. Taken as a whole, the clinical governance system generates objective data across the medical profession and across a range of activities and outcomes. It is important that the bodies involved do not work in isolation and are able to draw on and verify each others' findings in order to assess accurately the quality of doctors' practice. Our reforms will help to cement links between partners and ensure that clinical governance systems are joined-up and effective.

Our reform programme

The GMC protects, promotes and maintains the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine. We are currently implementing the biggest reform of medical regulation in 150 years.

  • We have a new Council of 35 members with 40% lay members
  • We are streamlining our fitness to practise procedures
  • We are introducing a licence to practise with revalidation
  • We are reviewing and modernising our guidance on medical ethics and education

Find out more from our web pages and factsheets on each aspect of the reforms

Immediate changes

Wide-ranging reforms to the GMC's fitness to practise procedures are to be implemented during 2004. The new fitness to practise procedures are designed to form part of an effective and distinct wider framework for protecting patients, including measures taken by the NHS and other employers. The reforms will be implemented in stages, with the immediate changes coming into force in May 2004.

Under the new procedures, we will discuss most complaints with employers at a very early stage in our investigation. The reason for this is both to highlight to the employer any complaints that are being investigated and to understand any other concerns that the employer may have regarding the doctor’s fitness to practise.

Before we disclose the complaint to the employer we will first request the consent of the complainant and share the complaint with the doctor. Following an initial investigation, we may decide to take no further action. At that point, we will inform all parties of our decision to conclude the case. The doctor’s employer can then decide whether there are any issues that need to be resolved locally.

These changes will ensure the GMC has a full picture of any concerns about the doctor before it decides what action to take. Similarly, employers will also have a more comprehensive picture of any concerns. It is important to note that disclosure of complaints at this early stage in our investigation mean many will be unsubstantiated at this point.

The changes reflect our commitment to collaborating effectively with employers and others responsible for clinical governance and patient safety.

Consultation

We are currently consulting on the fitness to practise reforms to be introduced later this year. The deadline for comments is 28 May 2004.

Guidance News

We have just published, for the first time, guidance on Continuing Professional Development.

A revised edition of our guidance on Confidentiality is now available.

We have completed our consultation on Modernising The New Doctor. A new edition will be out later this year

Decisions circular

Each month we produce a summary of decisions taken by our fitness to practise committees which affect individual doctors' registration. If you don't already receive this and have a clear operational need to do so, please let us know.

Governance

At its meeting on 11 - 12 May 2004 Council agreed our business plan outlining objectives and strategy for 2004 - 5 and our Annual Report and Accounts.

All papers for the meeting are available.

Events

We are exhibiting & speaking at the following events in June - please come along & say 'hello' if you're there too.

BAMM AGM & Summer School, Stratford upon Avon, 15 - 18 June

NAMPS, Royal College of Physicians, London, 18 June

NHS Confederation annual conference, Birmingham ICC/NIA, 23 - 25 June

BMA ARM, Llandudno, 27 June - 1 July

NHS Live, Excel, London, 7 July 

If you're organising events in your area and would like a GMC speaker or materials, please let us know.

Our communication with you

We're currently conducting a short online survey to ask your opinion about the way we communicate with you. The time taken to complete the survey is less than 5 minutes.

Coming next month

  • More information on developments in the way we register doctors
  • Plans for the development of our education function
  • Proposals for the development of Good Medical Practice and other guidance booklets

Feedback feedback feedback …

We want this bulletin to meet your needs and to work with you to ensure it does. Please send your feedback and suggestions for further material for inclusion to reform@gmc-uk.org

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Published by The General Medical Council
Copyright © 2004 All rights reserved.