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Guidance on good practice

The GMC has a statutory role to provide guidance to doctors on medical ethics.

Our core piece of guidance is Good Medical Practice (2006). This sets out the principles and values on which good practice is founded..

For more information about Good Medical Practice, visit our new interactive web section that brings this guidance to life. Enter Good Medical Practice in Action (Help viewing GMP in Action).

We keep our guidance under review. You can read more about current projects and consultations on our News and consultations page.

  • We also publish supplementary ethical guidance which provides more detail on how to comply with the principles in Good Medical Practice.
  • You can search all our current ethical guidance using our A-Z search function.
  • The news and consultations page contains information about our work, including new guidance development and reviews of existing guidance.
  • You can read all the ethical guidance which is no longer current in the Archive section.
  • You can give us your feedback on these pages, including the online format of Good Medical Practice.

Guidance in other areas of the GMC’s Work

  • The education pages provide guidance on education and training.
  • The concerns about doctors pages contain guidance on how members of the public and others can act on concerns about doctors.
  • For guidance on how to register as a doctor and on revalidation see the medical register.
  • The publications section of the site contains corporate publications like the Annual Report and the Valuing Diversity Resource guides.

Good Medical Practice in Action

Try our interactive web section which brings the guidance in Good Medical Practice to life. Enter Good Medical Practice in Action (Help viewing GMP in Action).


Operationalising Good Medical Practice

Good Medical Practice has become a pivotal reference point in the structures and processes for healthcare regulation, service provision and inspection. Read more about Operationalising Good Medical Practice