The GMC has updated its Good Medical Practice in Action website with a brand new set of scenarios targeting the ethical dilemmas that doctors find the most difficult to deal with
The GMC has updated its Good Medical Practice in Action website with a brand new set of scenarios targeting the ethical dilemmas that doctors find the most difficult to deal with[i].
Two of the other case studies contain scenarios which aim to help doctors and patients understand better the new GMC guidance on end of life care, which came into effect on 1 July. These look at difficult issues such as talking to a dying patient about whether to attempt CPR; what to do when there is a dispute between relatives regarding the care their father should receive; and the steps to take if a doctor has a conscientious objection to withdrawing treatment.
Dr Rosemary Leonard, one of the UK’s best-known GPs has helped to create these realistic medical and ethical online scenarios by providing advice on how doctors should use GMC guidance to deal with these complex dilemmas.
Dr Leonard, who also lends her voice to the case notes section of Good Medical Practice in Action, said:
“I am delighted to be part of Good Medical Practice in Action as it is so widely used and respected. Not only is it a great learning tool for doctors to familiarise themselves with GMC guidance in real-life situations, it also provides patients with an insight into often complex dilemmas that doctors face.”
Ros Levenson, a GMC Council member and Chair of the Standards and Ethics Reference Group, said:
“Doctors have told us that Good Medical Practice in Action helps them to understand our guidance, and is particularly useful when new guidance is launched, such as our end of life care guidance which has just come into force. We would encourage both doctors and patients to explore the brand new scenarios that have been added to the site.”
Good Medical Practice in Action asks doctors to consider what action to take in the following scenarios:
“Good Medical Practice in Action is very informative and enables me to put myself in patients’ shoes. The tutorials reinforce the importance of maintaining confidentiality and I now feel better equipped to respond sympathetically to patients’ worries whilst also providing them with the highest standard of care.”
Good Medical Practice in Action launched with just twelve scenarios in 2008. Two years later, it has grown to accommodate 60 scenarios and has received over 40,000 visits from doctors, medical students and members of the public.
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
Notes to Editors:
[1] An online BMJ Poll was conducted with 326 doctors between 23 March and 6 April 2010. 136 doctors selected ‘knowing when it’s in the public’s interest to breach patient confidentiality’ as the situation that worried them the most in their career.
GMP in Action was shortlisted for ‘Internet Product of the Year’ in the British Computing Society and IT Excellence Awards, November 2009.
For further information please contact the GMC Press 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 and training
- dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt
Merger of PMETB with GMC
The functions of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) transferred to the GMC on 1 April 2010, creating a simpler and clearer framework for the regulation of medical education and training. All stages of medical education and training now fall under the GMC’s remit. For more information please visit http://www.gmc-uk.org/.
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://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.
