Professor Sir Peter Rubin has become the first appointed chair of the General Medical Council (GMC) since the GMC was established more than 150 years ago.
Sir Peter was appointed through an open application process rather than being elected by the rest of the Council. His appointment follows a competitive recruitment process overseen by a four-strong selection panel independent of the GMC and of the government.
The panel, who between them had significant experience of healthcare, regulation and corporate governance, was chaired by Dame Janet Gaymer, a former Commissioner for Public Appointments.
The appointment of the GMC’s chair is part of significant change in the governing council of the GMC. Following advice from the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), the government decided that regulatory bodies should have smaller governing bodies - from January next year the GMC’s Council will reduce in size from 24 to 12 members.
Sir Peter, who is the current chair of the GMC - a role he was elected to in 2009, said:
'I am honoured to continue as chair of the GMC at a time of great change for doctors and patients.
'The GMC plays a critical role in protecting patients and improving medical practice and education. Over the coming months we will push ahead with a major programme of reform - not least with the introduction of revalidation which we expect to start at the end of the year.’
Sir Peter studied medicine at Cambridge and the Oxford Clinical School and has spent much of his career specialising in clinical pharmacology, with research and clinical interests in safe and effective prescribing during pregnancy.
He is Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Physician at Nottingham University Hospitals. He was also an American Heart Association Fellow at Stanford and a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Glasgow.
Sir Peter was knighted in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to medicine.
Over the coming months he will lead the appointments process for the GMC’s other Council members. These appointments will be confirmed in November.
The new Council will start its term of office on 1 January 2013.
Notes to Editors:
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The appointment process:
A total of 21 applications were received for the role of Chair. Candidates appeared before a selection panel independent of the GMC and Government, which consisted of four people with at least one medically qualified and one lay person. The appointments process was managed by GatenbySanderson on behalf of the GMC.
The panel’s recommendation was submitted to the Privy Council for approval following review of the appointment process by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), which confirmed that the process had followed good practice principles.
Members of the selection panel were:
- Dame Janet Gaymer (Chair): former Commissioner for Public Appointments. Currently an independent lay member for the Speaker’s Committee of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, member of the Board of the Financial Ombudsman and Co-Chair of the Consultation Steering Panel for the Legal Services Education and Training Review and employment lawyer
- Sir Peter Dixon: former Chair of the Office of Public Management, the Housing Corporation, Enfield & Haringey Health Authority and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Former interim Chair of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust. Former Trustee and Council Member of the NHS Confederation and Chair of its Audit Committee. Current Chair of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Henrietta Campbell CB: former Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland. Currently a Board member of the Food Standards Agency, Northern Ireland Prison Pay Review Body, UK Electoral Commission and Oxfam
- Michael Parker CBE: former non-executive director for NHS London, former Vice Chair of Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and former Chair of Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Currently Chair of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.
Changes to the GMC’s Council:
In 2003, the GMC’s Council was reduced from 104 members to 35. The Council was reconstituted again on 1 January 2009, and membership was reduced to 24. The Council of 24 established the principles of independent appointment and of parity in the number of medical and lay members.
The Government’s Command Paper Enabling Excellence – Autonomy and Accountability for Healthcare Workers, Social Workers and Social Care Workers (February 2011), included the aim to simplify regulators’ governance arrangements, focusing Councils on strategy and the performance management of their executives, with smaller and more ‘board-like’ structures.
The Department of Health conducted a consultation on proposed amendments to the GMC (and General Dental Council) constitution orders in the early part of 2012, publishing its consultation report on 1 August 2012. As a consequence, from 1 January 2013, the Council will be reduced in size again to 12 members, and for the first time the Chair will be appointed rather than elected from amongst the Council members.
The reconstituted Council will have six medical members and six lay members, and there will continue to be at least one member working or living wholly or mainly in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
GMC background and history:
The GMC was established by the Medical Act 1858 and was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission of England and Wales in 2001. Under the Medical Act 1983, the GMC has four main functions:
- Keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
- Fostering good medical practice
- Promoting high standards of medical education and training
- Dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt.
There are currently 253,649 doctors on the List of Registered Medical Practitioners, of whom 239,061 hold a licence to practise.
The GMC reports on its performance to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE, which will become the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care from 1 December 2012). The GMC is also accountable to Parliament through the Health Select Committee.
