October 2006

A communication from the General Medical Council
October 2006, Issue 30

What's New?

Welcome

Welcome to the October edition of the GMC e-bulletin.

In this month's edition we bring you news on the Appeal Court ruling over the issue of immunity for expert witnesses.

We also have news of the launch of the new version of Good Medical Practice, the core guidance for all doctors, and the national poster campaign highlighting the importance of the guidance for both patients and doctors.

There are round-ups of the latest activity in Wales and Scotland and news of the official opening of the GMC Northern Ireland office.

We also publish information on the Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education (QABME) framework, following three years of successful work.

Finally, there is information on a new online facility that should make searching for guidance on ethical issues much simpler and effective, and news of the IAMRA meeting in New Zealand.

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

GMC statement in response to the Court of Appeal judgment

On 26 October the Appeal Court overturned a ruling by the High Court that expert witnesses should be exempt from disciplinary action by their regulatory body.

The GMC made the appeal in order to protect the public interest. In a statement Finaly Scott, Chief Executive of the GMC stated: “The public must be confident that doctors and other professionals, who give evidence in court proceedings, can, if necessary, be held to account by their regulator. We did not accept that the GMC should be prevented from using its statutory powers when we judge it to be necessary; and the Court of Appeal has confirmed that we were correct.”"

"We are very pleased with today's decision that there is no immunity from action by the GMC and other regulators. The Court of Appeal has upheld our view that the GMC is free to act to protect the public when a doctor has fallen significantly below acceptable standards. This is a very important point of law."

"We have consistently recognised that it cannot be in the public interest if doctors are deterred from giving evidence, honestly and truthfully, and within their competence. However, the GMC did not believe that the solution lay in extending the principle of immunity in a way that placed doctors and other professionals beyond the reach of their regulator. We are very pleased that the Court of Appeal agrees."

Good Medical Practice Launched

The GMC launched the new edition of Good Medical Practice on Monday 23 October at three high profile events in England, Scotland and Wales, with an event to be hosted in Northern Ireland on 30 October.

Good Medical Practice is the core guidance for doctors and has been written following an extensive two year consultation with the profession and the public. Throughout the consultation, which involved public meetings and commissioned research, as well as invitations to comment on a draft of the guidance, we tried to find out the views and concerns of many individuals and organisations, and particularly those groups in society whose voices are seldom heard. All the views, ideas and criticisms raised during the consultation have been carefully considered and have informed the development of the guidance.

To raise awareness of the new edition of the guidance, to both doctors and the public, the GMC also launched a national poster campaign . The aim of this campaign is to encourage employers and GP practices to display the posters in their waiting rooms and public areas so that the public can be informed about doctors' commitment to the principles of good practice in a relevant and accessible way. It will also highlight to doctors that the guidance has been updated and they need to be aware of the commitments contained in it.

Copies of the poster have been sent out to all GP practises and hospitals in the UK. If you require any further information on the campaign or to request alternative language versions of the poster please call the GMC's offices on 0845 357 3456 or email us. Copies of Good Medical Practice can be downloaded via the GMC website.

Good Medical Practice to download

GMC Wales Engage with Key Stakeholders

The GMC attended the autumn conferences of Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats and had an exhibition stand at each. The Welsh autumn conferences provide an important platform for us to engage with key stakeholders and those responsible for drafting the party manifestos for the elections in May 2007.

These events are very important, as they enable us to highlight and explain the work of the GMC to key opinion formers and the policy teams in the main parties. Attending the conferences provides an opportunity to explain the current work of the GMC, and provide information about the forthcoming GMP Poster campaign and its significance to patients. Attending the Party conferences is part of the GMC ongoing commitment in Wales and assists in raising the profile and improving understanding of the GMC.

Good Medical Practice Launch.

The GMP launch was very well attended with representatives from patient groups, the Chief Officer of the Pontypridd and Rhondda CHC, and the Minister, Dr Brian Gibbons. The Health Minister, Dr Gibbons, was very positive about the consultation process that led to the re-draft of GMP as well the work of the GMC here Wales.

GMC to Attend Welsh Local Government Association.

The GMC will be attending the WLGA conference in Llandudno. The WLGA were key consultees in the Children's Guidance consultation process and the conference will be looking at key issues affecting the provision of healthcare in Wales. Important matters of debate for the GMC include: Implementation of The Children Act; Delivering public service reform and Local Government's leading role as health improvement agencies.

GMC Scotland

The Scottish Executive's series of stakeholder events concluded on October 17 with a national event in Edinburgh. The event, the last in a series of four across Scotland, was to inform the Executive's response to the current UK consultations on medical regulation and the regulation of the non-medical healthcare professions. The events involved all of the UK health regulators and CHRE and ran with the participation of GMC Scotland. GMC Scotland was particularly pleased to see a high level of engagement from organisations representing patients and the public in addition to robust attendance from across the voluntary, public and health sectors.

GMC Scotland's engagement with patients and the public around the regulations review has also been enhanced through a series of recent meetings of our Projects Officer, Jackie Bell, with key organisations including Macmillan Cancer Support and the Scottish Consumer Council. This engagement was carried into the launch of our new revised guidance for doctors, Good Medical Practice , on October 23. Six representatives signed our giant poster to launch our campaign to embed GMP into the work of doctors. These included the Minister for Health and Community Care in the Scottish Executive, representatives of Asthma UK (Scotland), Action for Sick Children and Contact a Family. The poster was also signed by GMC Council Member Dr Brian Keighley who welcomed the fact that “….patients will have access to Good Medical Practice and know what to expect.” The Minister stated that “Today's patients want to be directly involved in making choices and decisions about their care. This new guidance will ensure these principles are embedded in the practice of doctors at all levels.”

Dr Keighley was also a speaker at the GMC Scotland fringe event at SNP conference on October 12. Accompanying him on the panel were Jackie Burman of the new patient Independent Advice & Support Service, (IASS), and Shona Robison MSP, Health Spokesperson. The fringe event focussed on a discussion of ‘the informed patient' and the empowerment of patients. All the panellists stressed the importance of effective team working and good communication skills.

Official launch of GMC Northern Ireland Office

On Monday 30 October the General Medical Council (GMC) launches its Northern Ireland office at the Assembly Buildings in Stormont, Belfast.

A dedicated Northern Ireland office will allow the GMC to build on its proactive engagement strategy with public, patients, the profession and politicians and the health service at a local level. With different legislation, health structures and systems, the office will ensure that the Northern Ireland voice is taken into account in the development of both GMC policy and standards for doctors.

The event will also be the Northern Ireland launch of Good Medical Practice and its supporting poster campaign. The GMC wants doctors to demonstrate their commitment to the guidance by placing the posters in GP surgeries and hospitals across Northern Ireland, highlighting to patients and the public the key standards doctors agree to adhere to under to Good Medical Practice.

Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education: three years on...

Revised arrangements for ensuring medical schools meet the GMC standards for undergraduate medical education were introduced in 2003. After extensive consultation, and the piloting of the new arrangements with three medical schools, the Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education (QABME) framework was born.

Three years on, 11 established and four new medical schools have been reviewed under the QABME framework. The first of the new schools, Peninsula Medical School and the University of East Anglia, are due to be approved and signed off in 2007.

Annual internal evaluations of the programme, involving input from all those that come into contact with a QABME review (visitors, observers, medical school staff and students, NHS consultants and GP teachers) has concluded that: ‘the GMC can be reasonably confident that the requirements set out in Tomorrow's Doctors are being met' (GMC 2004 Evaluation Report), and ‘the benefits outweigh the costs of the programme, and many (schools) have indicated that changes will be made as a result of the findings of the visiting teams investigations' (GMC 2005 Evaluation Report).

We also need to consider how can we ensure the framework remains fit for purpose. As well as internal reviews, the GMC has commissioned an externally led cost/benefits analysis of the programme, which will conclude at the end of the year. Some of the questions are:

  • What are the strengths or limitations of the current QABME process?
  • What could be done to improve the QABME process?
  • Are the current methods and processes of QABME appropriate, e.g. is the depth of information gathered right? Are visits structured correctly?
  • To what extent does the information you have to provide for QABME duplicate other audit information requests?

The findings of this report will form the first phase of a larger external review planned to go out for tender in 2007. Email the Education section, for further information or visit the GMC website to view details of the QABME framework online.

New A-Z of ethical guidance

The GMC have launched a new search facility on its website, aimed at providing better access to healthcare professionals and the public of its guidance. The function allows individuals to search for information on specific issues (i.e. accountability), which is then cross referenced with all GMC guidance that directly mention the issue. To access the new A-Z facility please check out the GMC website.

7th International Conference on Medical Regulation

The 7th International Conference on Medical Regulation, being organised by the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities ( IAMRA) in Wellington, New Zealand, from 11 - 14 November 2006, will be an important event for medical regulation at the global level. At the 4-day event IAMRA will promote international collaboration amongst organisations responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the public through medical regulation. For more information see http://www.iamra2006.co.nz.

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