A new communication from the General Medical Council
November 2004, Issue 7

Welcome

Welcome to the penultimate edition of our reforms e-bulletin for 2004.

With our fitness to practice reforms now implemented the focus of the e-bulletin moves to licensing and revalidation. We’ll give you an update on the consultation process as well as what, as employers, you can expect to receive from us in the coming months.

Public Involvement in the regulation of medicine has fast become a hot topic and one on which our President, Sir Graeme Catto is hosting a seminar on in early December. For more information and the opportunity to take part read on.

There are also only a few days left of our initial consultation in to a review of Good Medical Practice.

We are now delighted to be able to announce the winners of our essay competition and don’t forget you can access to the monthly summary of all fitness to practise decisions via our secure link.

Please continue to send us your feedback, questions and ideas for topics you would like to see covered in future editions.

126 days to the start of Revalidation

From 1 April 2005 anyone who wants to practise medicine in the UK must not only be registered, but also hold a licence to practise. Doctors wishing to retain their licence must revalidate periodically.

Our consultation on the regulations which will underpin the new registration and licensing framework ends on 26 November. We are now analysing and taking into account comments from the wide variety of individuals and organisations who have responded to the consultation. Our Council will make the formal Regulations when it meets in January 2005; and, following Privy Council approval, they will come into force on 1 April 2005.

We will be writing to employers and to all doctors on the register in the coming weeks to explain the new system and what it means for both managers and doctors.

We will also continue to provide you with regular updates through this e-bulletin.

Public involvement - your chance to have a say

It is clear to anyone working in the health industry that the subject of patient involvement in healthcare is becoming increasingly important. As a result, the GMC is hosting a breakfast seminar and debate to explore the theme, on Wednesday 1 December at the Atrium restaurant, 4 Millbank, SW1P 3JA.

The format for the event will be a four-member panel of: Mr Harry Cayton, Director for Patients and the Public from the DoH; Fiona Freedland, Legal Director for Action Against Medical Accidents, myself and Mr Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the Kings Fund who will chair the discussion.

In addition, there will be around 30 senior representatives from regulatory bodies, health sector organisations, Royal Colleges, patient’s and consumer organisations, SHA, politicians and the media.

A continental breakfast will be served from 8.00am and we anticipate the seminar closing around 9.30am. If you would like to attend please contact Anthony Taylor, PR Manager at the GMC on 0161 923 6308 or via email: ataylor1@gmc-uk.org.

Last few days to consult on Good Medical Practice

It is nearly ten years since our core guidance booklet, Good Medical Practice, was first published. It is time for a fundamental review of the guidance to ensure that it is up-to-date, fit for purpose and that it reflects a consensus between the profession and the public. We feel that it is important to review the guidance to ensure its style and structure, as well as its content, are up to date, and fulfil the needs of the profession and the public; and to test the assumptions we made at the time Good Medical Practice was created.

To start the review, an informal consultation document has been circulated to a wide range of organisations, including patient and public, and professional organisations. The document is available on our website at http://www.gmc-uk.org/ and comments are requested by 10 December 2004.

Following the initial consultation, we will be working on redrafting the guidance before sending out a formal consultation in the second half of 2005. During that time we will be holding workshops and seminars to ensure that the opinions of a cross-section of society have been considered during the review process, and that the final version contains principles that are held to be important by doctors, patients and the wider public.

What will doctors be doing by 2050?

Over the summer the GMC held an essay competition for 16-18 year olds and asked them to write on the future of the medical profession with the title “What will doctors be doing by 2050?” Over 100 entries were received and all were of an extremely high level, with well constructed ideas and no shortage of imagination.

As well as new technological advances suggested, such as virtual out-patient clinics to the ability to genetically modify defects prior to birth, many of the entries focused on ethical issues, especially the continued effects of a growing and ageing population, where cures are available for most ailments.

There are two winners, Jennifer Wormald and Ashish Kalraiya , who will both receive a cheque for £500 and five runners-up Harriet Gunn, Samreen Rivzi, Ananya Vashist, Shaun Qureshi and Harminder Gill who will receive £100 and they will be presented with their prizes at the GMC office in London early in December.

Making Fitness to Practise fit for practice

An integral part of the GMC’s objectives in implementing the extensive reforms has been to ensure that we are able to disseminate information and engage with the wider medical profession. The GMC has secured the opportunity to work with key medical publications to provide material detailing the key reforms in order to encourage greater discourse.

The Clinical Governance Bulletin (364k , pdf), produced by the Royal Society of Medicine Press, recently published an article by Professor Sir Graeme Catto, which reviews the Fitness to Practise reforms that were implemented on 1st November 2004. The Bulletin also provides a detailed review of several other key areas surrounding appraisal including 360 o feedback, Indicators of Clinical governance performance and a review of bmjlearning.com.

Decisions Circular

To view October’s fitness to practice decisions don’t forget you can access these via our secure area on our website. 

The decisions circular is updated monthly at the start of each month. Due to the Data Protection Act this information is not for public dissemination, so we ask that you do not give out the login details.

Reforms Roadshows

Our last reforms road show event of 2004 is the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which is taking place at the IIC in Birmingham on Wednesday and Thursday 1 and 2 Dec. If you are planning to be at the event please come and visit us on stand.

However, if you can’t make it but would like some information on the reforms you can always access the factsheets on any part of our reforms by visiting our website www.gmc-uk.org and clicking on the GMC reforms and clinical governance link on the right hand navigational bar.

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.