Regulating doctors, ensuring good medical practice

General Medical Council sets out vision for the future of medical regulation

Press Release

27 Jan 2010

The General Medical Council has launched its 2010 - 2013 Corporate Strategy.

“It is vital that we are outward looking and play an active part in the broader regulatory framework, both nationally and internationally."

Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the GMC

Patient safety and the quality of healthcare lie at the heart of an ambitious programme of work set out by the General Medical Council (GMC) in its 2010-2013 Corporate Strategy.

Introducing the Strategy Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the GMC said:

“It is vital that we are outward looking and play an active part in the broader regulatory framework, both nationally and internationally. This involves being more in touch with the views of the public, patients and doctors; ensuring that our role in improving standards is understood widely; and working with other healthcare professions, employers and regulators. In this way, our contribution to enhancing the quality of healthcare and patient safety can be maximised.

“At the core of this Strategy are three major changes: a rigorous system of revalidation for doctors will be introduced from 2011; for the first time, the GMC will have responsibility for regulating all stages of medical education and training following the merger of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board with the GMC in April 2010; and in 2011, our adjudication function will move to the newly established Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator.

“These complex and extensive changes will be taking place during a period of financial stringency and rapid change within healthcare. The GMC has made great strides over recent years, demonstrating its ability to bring about significant change. So, I am confident that this demanding programme can be successfully delivered. I hope that the importance we place on achieving our aims will be shared by the public, patients, doctors and all the organisations with which we work.”

The 2010-2013 Corporate Strategy looks at medical regulation over the next four years and identifies four themes:

  • Protecting the public - such as providing people with more confidence in doctors’ abilities to do their jobs
  • Helping doctors – by supporting doctors throughout their careers
  • Working with partners – by developing  effective relationships across the UK such as with the NHS and internationally which will enhance patient safety
  • Delivering value for money – by ensuring that our resources are used efficiently and effectively and the GMC develops clear policies that will improve regulation

The Business Plan 2010 looks at key areas of work for the GMC this year and how they can help in meeting the extensive work programme outlined in the corporate strategy. Key projects for 2010 include:

  • The merger of PMETB with the GMC. From April onwards, all stages of medical education and training will be regulated by one body, the GMC. We will also be developing and consulting on a new fee structure following the merger
  • Progress towards revalidation will be a key objective for the year with the GMC conducting a major consultation with doctors and employers on a number of aspects of revalidation as well as supporting a continuing programme of revalidation pilot projects across the UK

For a copy of the GMC Corporate Strategy 2010-2013 and the Business Plan 2010 please visit the GMC website http://www.gmc-uk.org/publications/corporate_publications.asp

-ENDS-

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

The General Medical Council registers and licenses 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
 

Merger of PMETB with GMC

From 1 April 2010, (subject to legislation) the functions of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) will be transferred to the GMC, creating a simpler and clearer framework for the regulation of medical education and training.

In February 2008, the Secretary of State announced that PMETB would be merged with the GMC, following a recommendation from Sir John Tooke’s Independent Inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers. Following the merger, all stages of medical education and training will fall under the GMC’s remit. For more information please visit http://www.gmc-uk.org/ or http://www.pmetb.org.uk/

 

Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA)

From April 2011, the adjudication of fitness to practise cases involving doctors will transfer from the GMC to a new body called the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA). OHPA is being established under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It is being created to ensure clear separation between the investigation of fitness to practise cases and the process of determining whether a professional’s fitness to practise is impaired.

To begin with, the new body will be responsible for making decisions on fitness to practise cases brought forward by the GMC and, in time, the General Optical Council. Over time, other regulators of healthcare professionals may transfer their adjudication functions to OHPA. For more information about OHPA, please visit http://www.ohpa.org.uk/

The GMC will remain the regulator for doctors, continuing to set the standards for professional practice and receiving and investigating allegations about their fitness to practise.