July 2007

A communication from the General Medical Council
July 2007, Issue 36

What's New?

Welcome to the July edition of the GMC e-bulletin

This edition includes a summary of the recent GMC seminar on Trust, Assurance and Safety which provided a useful opportunity for the GMC to gain feedback on its proposals for taking forward the content of the White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Healthcare Professionals in the 21st Century.

The GMC’s Education team is reviewing its guidance on undergraduate medical education, and is seeking your views on how the guidance could be improved.

The GMC and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve co-operation in the investigation of complaints, helping to protect patients and improve services in Scotland.

GMC Wales has been invited to take part in a meeting of Welsh Medical Directors to emphasise its commitment to working with employers and to highlight the support which the organisation can provide to Medical Directors dealing with Fitness to Practise queries.

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

GMC seminar on Trust, Assurance and Safety

The GMC’s seminar was held on 16 July at the Royal Society in London.  The aim of the event was to present the organisation’s plans for taking forward the proposals contained in the White Paper - Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Healthcare Professionals in the 21st Century.

Senior representatives from a wide range of organisations with an interest in healthcare and medical regulation attended the event which opened with comments from GMC President Sir Graeme Catto, followed by a presentation from the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Martin Marshall, on the Department’s healthcare reform plans. The GMC’s Chief Executive, Finlay Scott, then introduced the organisation’s proposals for pursuing the streams of work outlined in the White Paper.  Delegates were given the opportunity to put questions to the speakers and were then invited to participate in a series of workshop discussions and explore some of the issues in more detail.

You can view videos and slides of the presentations on the GMC website.

Changes in training for provisionally registered doctors

From 1 August 2007, the legal framework for programmes for provisionally registered doctors (F1 trainees) will change, requiring trainees to meet the competency outcomes set by the GMC Education Committee before full registration is granted.

This marks the end of the two-year transition from an experience-based to an outcome-based framework for training provisionally registered doctors.

The New Doctor (2005) signalled a move from setting specific patterns of experience in training to the requirement for provisionally registered doctors to demonstrate specific outcomes.

Transitional arrangements will be available for doctors who have commenced, but not completed, training before 1 August 2007. These arrangements will enable them to complete their training and obtain full registration under the provisions in place when they started their programme.

These transitional provisions will expire after two years.

Review of Tomorrow’s Doctors

The GMC’s Education section is preparing to review the current edition of Tomorrow’s Doctors (2003) to ensure that the guidance is fit for purpose.

Tomorrow’s Doctors is the document that sets the standards and recommendations for undergraduate medical education. The Tomorrow’s Doctors Review Group is currently being formed to take the project forward.

The consultation will run in two phases. The first phase will be an informal information gathering exercise about the content of the guidance and will involve discussions with interested stakeholders. These discussions will inform the framework and structure of the revised guidance.

The second phase will comprise a three-month formal consultation of the Tomorrow’s Doctors consultation draft in the second quarter of 2008.

If you have any views about how the current guidance could be improved, or if you wish to be added to the database to receive information about the forthcoming review please contact Tammie Lawrie at tlawrie@gmc-uk.org or by calling 020 7189 5378.

GMC & SPSO Sign Memorandum of Understanding 

The General Medical Council and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 9 July.

The MoU was signed by GMC Chief Executive Finlay Scott and the Ombudsman, Professor Alice Brown. It commits both organisations to co-operation around the investigation of complaints and formalises current information sharing arrangements where the GMC or the SPSO gains information which may assist in, or trigger, an investigation by the other.

Under the agreement, the GMC and SPSO will share information on trends and issues in casework around complaints about doctors and collaborate on informing other organisations about their work.

Show me the Memorandum of Understanding between the GMC and the SPSO.

GMC developing links between national and local regulators in Wales

The GMC further emphasised its commitment to four-country regulation in a meeting in Cardiff on 10 July.

Representatives from the GMC were invited by the Chief Medical Officer for Wales to speak at a meeting of all Wales’ Medical Directors. Also present was the CMO Tony Jewell; representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government and key representatives of NHS Wales.

Neil Roberts, the GMC’s Director of Registration and Resources opened the presentation and emphasised the GMC’s commitment to forging even stronger working relationships with medical employers in Wales such as Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts.

Una Lane, Assistant Director of Standards and Fitness to Practise (FtP) then delivered a presentation on the GMC’s FtP procedures, covering key issues such as when to escalate a complaint to the GMC and what assistance is available to the Medical Directors to help them deal with FtP queries.

The GMC's presence and presentation was extremely well-received. The organisation has now been invited to engage in regular discussions with this key interest group to maintain lines of communication between Wales and the GMC. This engagement will be coordinated by Natalie Drury, the GMC’s Head of Welsh Affairs who is based in Cardiff.

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