March 2008
A communication from the General Medical Council
March 2008, Issue 43
What's New?
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GMC publishes new guidance on personal beliefs
The GMC has produced new guidance which explores how doctors should deal with a range of dilemmas including abortion, the wearing of face-veils and male circumcision. It also looks at patients’ own beliefs and how they can affect the doctor/patient relationship.
Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice has been developed in response to an increasing number of enquiries about doctors’ and patients’ personal, religious and moral beliefs. It expands on principles set out in the GMC’s core guidance, Good Medical Practice, which says that doctors must not discriminate against patients by allowing their personal views to adversely affect their professional relationships.
The guidance recognises that all doctors have personal beliefs which may affect their day-to-day practice. It clarifies the distinction between conscientious objection to a procedure and discrimination against a patient or group of patients.
Dr John Jenkins, Chair of the GMC’s Standards and Ethics Committee said:
“The GMC recognises that personal beliefs, values, and cultural and religious practises are central to the lives of doctors and patients. The guidance balances a doctors’ right to practise in accordance with their views and beliefs, and patients’ right to receive timely and appropriate medical care. We are clear that doctors must not mislead patients about the options available to them or leave them with nowhere to turn. We hope this guidance will help doctors understand how to apply the GMC’s principles in their day-to-day practice”.
Health and Social Care Bill – Second Reading debate in the House of Lords
The House of Lords held a Second Reading debate on the Health and Social Care Bill on Tuesday, 25 March.
The debate included widespread support for the measures relating to professional regulation, including the introduction of the civil standard of proof. The Minister, Lord Darzi noted that eight out of 11 regulators already use the civil standard and that it builds on existing best practice in other sectors.
Other issues raised by Peers included concerns about the costs and independence of the new adjudication body – the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA). A number of Peers also raised the issue of legally qualified chairs for fitness to practise panels.
Latest GMC reforms published for consultation
The Government has brought forward its latest batch of proposals for legislative change arising from the White Paper on the future of professional regulation. Previous draft legislation has covered the future governance of the GMC, the establishment of the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA) and the creation of the ‘responsible officer’ role in local healthcare organisations to support the delivery of revalidation.
The latest proposals have been brought forward at the request of the GMC and cover three distinct areas:
- The introduction of the licence to practise as part of our preparations for revalidation.
- The reinstatement of arrangements that existed until 2005 to enable established consultants to apply direct to the GMC for inclusion in the specialist register.
- The transfer of statutory powers from the Education Committee of the GMC to the Council of the GMC.
Inclusion in the GMC specialist register is one of the requirements for appointment to an NHS consultant post. When the specialist register was introduced in January 1996, the legislation contained a ‘grandfather clause’ enabling those already in consultant posts to apply to the GMC for their names to be included in the register.
Although most consultants took advantage of this opportunity, some did not.
When PMETB was established in 2005, the grandfather clause was removed from the legislation, leaving a small but significant number of consultants stranded and without a straightforward means of obtaining specialist registration. This mattered because it sent confusing messages for patients: ‘Why isn’t my consultant on the specialist register?’ It also meant that those consultants were unable to comply with NHS contractual requirements for them to hold specialist registration and would be unable to recertify in their specialty as part of revalidation.
The proposed legislation will reinstate the previous arrangements, allowing the GMC discretion to consider applications for specialist registration from consultants who were in post when the specialist register was established.
Further details of the Government’s proposals can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/en/consultations.
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