A faster way to protect patients

Earlier this year we asked for feedback on plans that would allow doctors facing serious concerns about their practice to agree sanctions without the need for a hearing, thereby delivering a quicker way to protect patients.

More than 200 patients and their representatives, the BMA, Royal Colleges, NHS Employers, medical defence organisations and individual doctors responded to the consultation. We also held a number of listening events and workshops which allowed a wider discussion on the proposals and a chance to explore the views of both doctors and patients in more detail.

There was strong support for most of the proposals with more than 80% agreeing both that we should look into alternatives to public hearings where the facts of a case are not in dispute. There was also strong backing for the idea that some criminal convictions are incompatible with being a doctor and that there should be a fast track system to remove, for example, murderers and rapists from the register. Most of those who responded also agreed the GMC should suspend doctors who fail to cooperate with investigations, provided that repeated attempts have been made to engage with them.

Just as importantly, the responses also gave us a clear steer on where we need to make changes to our proposals.

The main area of concern was how we will ensure that the public and media still have the opportunity to scrutinise decisions, whether a public hearing is held or not.

‘Being open about what is happening in cases is vital if we are to retain the public’s trust and confidence in the system,’ said Niall Dickson, the GMC’s Chief Executive. ‘So we will look again at how we can make sure information on all cases is made publicly available, whether they go to a hearing or not.’

Another important area that was identified was the need to make sure that potentially vulnerable doctors are supported effectively. A related suggestion was to explore whether, in certain circumstances, the GMC can provide basic legal advice for unrepresented doctors who may accept a sanction under the new proposals. We will do more work to see how we can take these suggestions forward.

You can read the report on the Outcome of Consultation on Fitness to Practise Reforms findings here.

We have also been consulting on proposals to modernise and increase the independence of fitness to practise hearings, including moving to a single hearing centre. That consultation has now closed and we will report back on the results later this year.