November 2005
A communication from the General Medical Council
November 2005, Issue
19
What's New?
Welcome
Welcome to the penultimate edition of the GMC e-bulletin for 2005.
The focus of this month's e-bulletin is on the introduction of the GP Register that will be implemented from 31 March 2006 and will be compulsory for all GPs wishing to continue practising.
The GMC recently commissioned its first Citizen's jury, who have now reported on their review of children's rights when receiving medical care.
We also bring you an update from the Alliance of UK Health Regulators on Europe (AURE) who successfully hosted a European summit on regulating health professionals.
The GMC has also this month announced the opening of a new office in Northern Ireland, which will commence operation in December.
Following the successful public meetings on the consultation and review of Good Medical Practice, there are only a few days remaining for individuals to complete the consultation before it closes.
Finally, there are details of the events the GMC will be attending, and exhibiting, prior to Christmas, where you can come along and put your questions to us in person.
Please continue to send us your feedback, questions and ideas for topics you would like to see covered in future editions.
GP Register
On 31 March 2006, the GMC will introduce a register of doctors who are eligible to work in general practice in the NHS within the UK. All doctors working in general practice, other than GP registrars, will be required to be on the GP Register and the requirement will extend to all GPs working in the NHS, including locums. Doctors who are training for general practice (GP registrars) will not need to be on the GP Register.
Primary care organisations (PCO) will continue to maintain primary medical performers' lists after the introduction of the GP Register. GP registration will be a requirement for entry to a medical performers' list for GPs, except for GP registrars.
We are working closely with PCOs to ensure that the names of all eligible GPs currently on performers' lists are carried across to the new register, and are very grateful for the hard work and support of PCO staff.
The GP Register is being introduced alongside the changes to the system for postgraduate medical education and training. Those changes include the establishment of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB), which formally assumed its functions on 30 September 2005.
The GP Register will provide a number of benefits. In particular, employers and contracting authorities, and patients and the public, will, for the first time, have access to a definitive and comprehensive national register of doctors who are eligible to work as GPs. The GP Register will increase patient safety, and contribute to a raising of standards, by helping to prevent doctors working as GPs who are not entitled to do so.
The GMC commissioned its first citizen's jury to gain views on children's rights when receiving medical care.
The panel was made up of 16 members of the public and heard evidence from a number of expert and lay witnesses over four days (1-4 November 2005) to consider their verdict based on the following two main questions.
1) When is it right for doctors to share information with other professionals and with parents about children and young people?
2) What obligations do doctors have to children and young people when they share information with others?
The jury concluded that the public trusts the profession's judgement and would want to see other professions exercising a similar degree of discretion in situations, which are inevitably complex. The jury argued that the levels of confidentiality that exist, and are crucial to maintaining the doctor/patient relationship, should be raised in other key areas such as within the teaching profession. They also agreed some broad principles that should underpin the GMC's guidance to doctors:
- Children's confidentiality is never absolute - while they have a right to privacy it is also right in some cases for professionals to act in their best interests.
- Information sharing is not a catch-all solution – compromising confidentiality and sharing information does not guarantee an intervention will be made.
- A case by case approach and not blanket guidance is required.
The jury also agreed that parents have a right to know about medical issues affecting their children. The onus remains on a doctor to justify not passing on that information because he or she judges that it would lead to harm to the child. The results of the jury will be fed into a new publication on doctors' ethical responsibilities when treating children.
European summit success on regulating health professionals
The Alliance of UK Health Regulators on Europe (AURE) welcomed the Health Professionals Crossing Borders conference, which took place in Edinburgh on 13–14 October 2005.
The conference was the culmination of six months' work under the auspices of the UK Presidency of the EU. Over 130 delegates from across Europe, as well as representatives of the European Commission and pan-European organisations of regulators and health professionals, examined proposals that aim to improve patient safety by introducing enhanced measures of information exchange between countries, including a common European Certificate of Good Standing.
The certificate would enable those countries where health professionals migrate to practise to have access to current, relevant information in a standard format about the registration status of an individual and any restrictions on their practice in their home country.
The conference also discussed the possibility of EU Member States taking a more proactive approach to information sharing in cases where disciplinary action has been taken against a healthcare professional. The aim is to ensure that information sharing provisions in European legislation function effectively in practice, such as those in the new Directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications.
The membership of the Alliance (AURE) includes:
- General Medical Council
- General Dental Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Chiropractic Council
- Health Professions Council Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
- General Social Care Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
GMC opens Northern Ireland Office
The General Medical Council will be opening a Northern Ireland office and have appointed Alan Walker as Head of Northern Ireland Affairs. The office will provide a local focus to GMC operations from December 2005.
The decision to open a new office followed consultation with key stakeholders, who overwhelmingly supported the establishment of a GMC presence in Northern Ireland. This will be the fifth GMC office, supplementing offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. The Northern Ireland office will establish and maintain links with the Northern Ireland Assembly and other key stakeholders and decision makers in the health sector including consumers and their representatives and over 3,000 doctors in working Northern Ireland.
Good Medical Practice Consultation
This week marks the final week of the consultation on our revised Good Medical Practice guidance. The GMC has now concluded its five highly successful open public meetings in Manchester, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, the outcomes from which will feed back into the consultation along with the research conducted by the Picker Institute.
GMC Events
The GMC will be attending several events in the run-up to Christmas, and will be focusing on Public and Patient Involvement and the introduction of the GP Register, at the following events:
2-3 December, BMJ Careers Fair, London.
7-8 December, NICE, ICC Birmingham.
13 December, NHS Live, Docklands, London.
If you are planning to attend any of these events please come and see us on our stand.
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