Support for doctors
There are a number of resources available that can help you deal with the stress of an investigation, and some of these are totally independent of us.
Information for doctors under investigation
If we decide to investigate your fitness to practise, we know it can be a difficult and stressful time. These pages contain information on the support available. This section also explains our investigation processes and the actions we may take.
Fitness to practise and investigations
Fitness to practise explained
Our role, as the UK’s regulator of doctors, is to act where there are concerns that patient safety, the public’s confidence in doctors, or the professional standards we set and maintain, may be at risk.
How we investigate concerns
Guide for doctors who want to know more about our fitness to practise investigation process.
Our sanctions
A guide to the sanctions we can impose on doctors who have fallen below the standards we expect of them.
Assessments
Performance assessments
A performance assessment is an independent opinion of a doctor's professional performance, conducted by a team of GMC-trained independent assessors.
Health assessments
If we believe that your health may adversely affect your ability to practise safely, we may ask you to take a health assessment. Find out more about what this means.
English language assessments
Understand the process if we receive concerns about your knowledge of English from your employers or from patients.
How we make decisions about fitness to practice
Understand more about how we make decisions about a doctor's fitness to practise.
