The GMC in Scotland - Recent activity
Busy time for Chair in Scotland
Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the General Medical Council, enjoyed a very busy schedule when he visited the GMC office in Edinburgh in December to meet with key Scottish stakeholders.
Not only did Professor Rubin meet with representatives from the Scottish Government Health Directorates and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, he also met with Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being, Nicola Sturgeon MSP and a group of sessional/locum general practitioners.
Professor Rubin's meeting with Ms Sturgeon saw him formally introduce the GMC as a highly effective professional regulator with a strong commitment to Scotland. He also updated the Cabinet Secretary on general GMC policy and progress around the merger with PMETB, the progress towards Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator, the GMC's EU activity, revalidation, telemedicine, our work with Scottish Medical Directors, forthcoming guidance, publications and consultations.
Meeting with sessional/locum doctors over lunch, Professor Rubin was joined by Council members Hamish Wilson and Ros Levenson and supported by Jane Todd, Head of Scottish Affairs and Jackie Bell, Scottish Projects Officer. The meeting was designed to further the ongoing communication work with sessional GP's, and encouraged sessional GP's to discuss their views and issues on GMC policy.
GMC exhibit at Scotland Patients Association event
Staff from the GMC Edinburgh offices held a stand at the Scotland Patients Association conference on 4 November. The conference was attended by patients and professionals involved in healthcare and consisted of a series of talks by patients or their relatives who had experienced, in their perception, a poor standard of care from the NHS. The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon, visited the conference to hear about some of the stories and to talk about the Scottish Government's work to improve clinical standards in the NHS.
GMC host NCPAS in Edinburgh
On 30 October the GMC office in Edinburgh hosted a special meeting of the NHS Complaints Personnel Association Scotland (NCPAS). NCPAS is an unofficial forum for Complaints Officers working in NHS Scotland. It seeks to spread good practice and provides an opportunity for networking and discussion. The GMC is an affiliated member.
Around 30 complaints officers from across the NHS in Scotland attended the seminar, which focussed on the new GMC confidentiality guidance. Michael Keegan, Policy Adviser with the GMC's Standards & Ethics Team, presented on the guidance and led a case study based workshop, generating some very interesting discussion .
http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/confidentiality.asp
GMC fitness to practise procedures were also addressed. NCPAS have indicated that the event was very useful and we are planning similar joint events in the future.
GMC at 2nd Annual Regulation Conference
Paul Philip, Deputy Chief Executive of the GMC, spoke on medical revalidation at the second annual Scottish Government Regulation Conference held in Edinburgh on October 27 and 28. The two day event was hosted by the Scottish Government Health Directorates in partnership with the UK health professions regulators and the GMC office in Edinburgh had a very well attended stand.
Above: the GMC stand at the second annual Scottish Government Regulation Conference
Day one was chaired by former GMC President, Professor Sir Graeme Catto and focussed on the progress made on the implementation of the UK White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century in Scotland and included presentations from the Chief Nursing Officer and the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.
Day two was chaired by Dr Moira Livingston, Chair of the Department of Health UK working group on Extending Professional Regulation and focussed on UK work on extension of professional regulation to new groups and on progress made following the pilot for the Regulation of Healthcare Support Workers in Scotland. Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon delivered the keynote address.
GMC exhibits at SNP Conference
The GMC Scotland team manned a busy stand at the lively Scottish National Party Conference in Inverness. Delegates were very interested in the work of the GMC, particularly in the new Confidentiality guidance, the forthcoming introduction of the Licence to Practise and end of life care.
Above: GMC staff members Jackie Bell and Dan Wynn speak with a delegate at the SNP Conference
We demonstrated Patients' Help live on screen and attended a variety of health related fringe meetings, which gave delegates with expert insight into specific health issues the opportunity to talk to us about common themes, such as communication.
Launch of "Confidentiality" in Scotland
The new guidance on confidentiality was launched at the GMC Scotland office on the 8th October. Designed as a feedback session for many of the organisations involved in the consultation, the event was chaired by Council Member Dr Mairi Scott and speakers included Kim Kinghan, Scottish Government Information Governance Lead and Roy Kilpatrick, CEO of HIV Scotland. The launch was attended by a wide spectrum of stakeholders including the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Scotland Patients Association, Scottish Government, Medics Against Violence, Scottish Social Services Council, Royal Colleges and BMA. Both the guidance itself and the inclusiveness of the consultation process across Scotland were welcomed and highly commended by those involved.
Kim Kinghan, Scottish Government Information Governance Lead said, "The GMC guidance was clear and concise, in what is an emotive and often poorly understood area."
Roy Kilpatrick emphasised the need for looking at individual context when making decisions and thanked the GMC for working closely with HIV Scotland on this issue.
The Q& A was lively and well informed and the feedback was excellent. Attendees were keen to emphasise the need work together to ensure that the principles of the document become embedded in everyday practice.
Thinking about becoming a doctor? GMC Council member visits George Heriot's School Edinburgh
On his death in 1624, George Heriot left around 25,000 Pound Scots - equivalent to several tens of millions today - to found a hospital and school to care for "puir, fatherless bairns" (Scots: poor, fatherless children) of Edinburgh.
GMC Council Member, Dr Mairi Scott, visited George Heriot's School on the 7th October to talk to prospective medical students.
The session was part of Heriot's ongoing "bioethics" course which also caters for those hoping to study Law. After an introduction and Q&A on the role of medical regulation, the group considered some ethical case studies in a lively discussion session and looked at our interactive website, Good Medical Practice in Action.
The educational material, which included Medical students - professional values and fitness to practise and a range of GMC guidance to doctors, was welcomed and further material was requested.
Licensing roadshow comes to Scotland
The GMC will introduce a licence to practise for doctors in November 2009. This change in medical regulation has implications for the employers of doctors and our licensing team has arranged a series of meetings across the UK to look at the practical details and to ensure that the transition is managed smoothly.
The Edinburgh event took place on 17 September and was attended by a wide range of employing organisations including the Scottish Government, NHS Boards, the independent sector and the universities.
Chaired by Ben Jones, Assistant Director Registration Policy Implementation (pictured above), presentations covered the policy detail, changes to paperwork and the online register and information sharing.
GMC exhibit at Citizens Advice Scotland Conference 2009
The General Medical Council attended and exhibited at this years Citizens Advice Scotland Conference at the Edinburgh Conference Centre within the grounds of Heriot-Watt University.
The annual conference coincided with the Bureau Service's 70th Anniversary and was very well attended by CAS and Independent Advice and Support Service (IASS) workers who collected copies of GMC publications including Consent: patients and doctors making decisions together, GMP in Action 3 and How to complain about a doctor.
Delegates took great interest in the online Patients' help guidance. This interactive tool was written with IASS input and assists patients to identify the correct sources of information and support.
GMC pre-reg Aberdeen medical students
The General Medical Council visited the University of Aberdeen in July to pre-register medical students ahead of their graduation next year. Pre-registering students ensures the GMC has the correct and relevant information ahead of a student's graduation and granting of provisional registration. Over 200 fourth year medical students were pre-registered at the event held at the University's Foresterhill Campus, and feedback from students has been very positive.
Scottish Affairs Officer Dan Wynn, accompanied personnel from the Registration Directorate to the event. He gave a presentation on the role the GMC has in medical education, registration, ethical standards and assessing doctors' fitness to practise.
To view the presentation click on the link below:
Aberdeen Pre-Registration Briefing
To visit the University of Aberdeen Medical School website click the following link:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/medicine-dentistry/
Visit to University of Aberdeen - July 2009
The General Medical Council visited the University of Aberdeen in July to pre-register medical students ahead of their graduation next year. Pre-registering students ensures the GMC has the correct and relevant information ahead of a student's graduation and granting of provisional registration.
Over 200 fourth year medical students were pre-registered at the event held at the University's Foresterhill Campus, and feedback from students has been very positive. Scottish Affairs Officer Dan Wynn, accompanied personnel from the Registration Directorate to the event.
He gave a presentation on the role the GMC has in medical education, registration, ethical standards and assessing doctors' fitness to practise.
To visit the University of Aberdeen Medical School website click on www.abdn.ac.uk/medicine-dentistry/
End of life treatment and care: Scottish consultation events - May 2009
As part of the consultation process on the new draft guidance, End of life treatment and care: Good practice in decision-making, the GMC recently held a series of events in Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Above: Sharon Burton, Senior Policy Advisor, David Oxenham, Marie Curie in Edinburgh and GMC Council Member Professor Jim McKillop at the End of Life Consultation event in Glasgow.
All three events were very well attended by doctors, health professionals, carers and patients. The response from attendees was very positive. The events were supported by Scottish members of the Council and by staff from the GMC's Standards & Ethics Team.
The End of life treatment and care: Good practice in decision-making guidance is intended mainly for doctors, but may also help patients and the public, and other health and social care staff, to understand what they can expect from doctors involved in caring for patients who are dying. The consultation is open until 13 July. Further details are available at www.gmc-uk.org/end_of_life_care
Tomorrow's Doctors consultation - Spring 2009
The General Medical Council recently consulted on a revised edition of Tomorrow's Doctors, our guidance to medical schools on the knowledge, skills and behaviour we expect from medical graduates.
Above: Professor Jim McKillop, GMC Council Member, addresses delegates at the Tomorrow's Doctors workshop held at our Edinburgh office.
As part of the consultation, we recently ran workshops for public and patient interest organisations; medical students; and employers and medical educators at our office Scotland. In total over 30 people attended each workshops which were also attended by GMC Council members Dr Mairi Scott, Hamish Wilson and Professor Jim McKillop.
Each workshop was chaired by Professor McKillop and Martin Hart, Assistant Director for Education at the GMC, gave a presentation on Tomorrow's Doctors and posed a number of tailored questions to each audience.
The conversation was wide-ranging, lively and very informative. Feedback from participants was very positive with Stonewall Scotland commenting, "We welcome the commitments to equality and diversity made in Tomorrow's Doctors. We believe this is a strong document that addresses many of the concerns we've had for a long time."
The consultation ended on 27 March but to access Tomorrow's Doctors 2009: a draft for consultation and the impact assessment undertaken for the consultation on the draft guidance click on the link below.
http://www.gmc-uk.org/tomorrowsdoctors/