New guidance will help doctors make difficult judgments in the workplace

Doctors and patients are being asked what steps doctors should take when faced with a conflict between their management responsibilities and their duty to ensure patients receive good, safe care.

This is one of the questions asked in a consultation on the revised draft of the GMC’s guidance on workplace issues faced by doctors.

The GMC has suggested a number of updates to its guidance, including a duty for doctors to be open and honest with patients about how decisions are made about when resources are limited.

The consultation asks for views on a variety of issues including commissioning services, dealing with conflicts of interest, team-working and performance management. Another question asked is whether the proposed guidance sets out all of the factors that should be taken into account when decisions have to be made about competing demands for resources

Guidance on raising and acting on concerns about patient safety has also been brought together for the first time in this new draft. The consultation asks what more the GMC can do to encourage doctors to speak up about anything that compromises the safety of patients.

Niall Dickson, the Chief Executive of the GMC, said:

“One of the challenges doctors are currently facing is how to deliver good patient care at a time of economic restraint. Every day, all doctors make decisions about balancing competing demands for resources. Our updated guidance is intended to help doctors make these decisions. We want to hear as many views as possible about the factors doctors should consider when making these difficult choices.

“We also want to hear whether our guidance on raising and acting on patient safety concerns can provide any further support for doctors. Doctors have a vital duty to raise any concerns about any practice they see which could be putting patients at risk. Senior doctors must encourage colleagues to raise concerns and must act on such concerns quickly and professionally.
 
 “We have also emphasised the importance of continuing professional development, appraisal and induction in improving patient care.”

The updated guidance proposes that doctors with additional responsibility for managing resources or commissioning should have a more detailed knowledge of management processes and how they can impact on patient care and safety.

The guidance also emphasises the duty of doctors to take part in appraisals, ahead of the start of revalidation next year. It sets out the duties of doctors with supervisory responsibilities to ensure they are giving their colleagues sufficient time to prepare for appraisals or performance reviews and to undertake training and development.

All GMC guidance is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains current and relevant. The current guidance, Management for Doctors, was last updated in 2005. The new guidance is provisionally titled Good Management Practice: guidance for all doctors.

The consultation is open until 3 June 2011. The full consultation is available from www.gmc-uk.org/management