Regulating doctors, ensuring good medical practice

Brighter, bolder and easier to use: GMC launches new website

Press Release

19 Oct 2009

A new online version of the GMC’s magazine for doctors, GMCtoday, is the centrepiece of a brighter, bolder new website launched this week.

Our new site is one of the most important sources of reliable information for doctors on licensing, revalidation and standards. I encourage all doctors to visit the site and try out the improved services it has to offer.

Professor Peter Rubin, GMC Chair

The web version of the bi-monthly publication includes a vibrant, regularly updated online news section covering events as they happen, as well as interesting features and all the usual GMCtoday favourites. 

As well as a leaner, cleaner and more eye-catching design, the GMC’s new site www.gmc-uk.org will boast better navigation and a host of usability and accessibility improvements for doctors, patients, health professionals and their employers. 

The website also includes:

  • quicker access to popular doctors’ content like Good Medical Practice in Action and MyGMC – both of which have prominent links from the homepage
  • expansion of the publications section, with more information about key documents for doctors
  • even better access to the Standards and ethics guidance, thanks to a ‘guidance only’ search engine and a revised guidance A-Z
  • a better news section, easily accessible from the homepage
  • a much improved search facility allowing people to access Fitness to Practise Panel and Interim Order Panel decisions about doctors.

As part of the development process the GMC consulted widely with users of the original website. Over 1000 people, including 550 doctors, completed an online survey providing information about what they wanted from the new site and their needs and recommendations received have been incorporated.

The new site is the latest in a series of web improvements which have led to a surge in the number of visits over the last year. Visit numbers are up 20% on a year ago and the site regularly gets in excess of 10,000 visits a day.

Professor Peter Rubin, GMC Chair says:

 “Our new site is one of the most important sources of reliable information for doctors on licensing, revalidation and standards. I encourage all doctors to visit the site and try out the improved services it has to offer. It focuses on clarity and accessibility for all its users. GMCtoday already goes out to the 231,000 doctors on our register and now everyone will be able to benefit by reading it online in its new interactive format.”

 

For further information please contact the Media Relations Office on 020 7189 5454, out of hours 020 7189 5444, fax 020 7189 5401, email press@gmc-uk.org, website http://www.gmc-uk.org./

The General Medical Council registers doctors to practise medicine in the UK. Our purpose is summed up in the phrase: Regulating doctors, Ensuring Good Medical Practice.

The law gives us four main functions:

  • keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
  • fostering good medical practice
  • promoting high standards of medical education
  • dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt

©2009 General Medical Council Press Office