News: Report on health conditions published
28 September 2009
Report says UK health regulators should introduce single fitness to practise procedures.
Health regulators should introduce a single fitness to practise procedures rather than having separate procedures for dealing with conduct, performance and health, a report recommends.
The report on regulatory bodies’ health requirements for registrants was published in June by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), and commissioned by the Department of Health in response to concerns raised by the Disability Rights Commission that disabled people may be unfairly discriminated against within the health professions.
As well as recommending a single fitness to practise process, the report also suggests that all health regulators should remove any reference to ‘good health’ as a requirement of registration.
Welcomed
The GMC has welcomed the report which promotes a number of principles of good regulation which we have supported for some years. Good health is not a requirement of registration with the GMC and doctors are not required to present a full health reference from a medical practitioner when applying for initial registration.
The GMC already has a single fitness to practise procedure which was introduced as part of wider fitness to practise reforms in 2004, although, where necessary, our panels will hear sensitive information about a doctor’s health in private.
Good Medical Practice requires doctors to seek medical advice if their judgement or performance could be affected by a condition or its treatment but health issues are only relevant, within our fitness to practise procedures, where they impact on a doctor’s fitness to practise.
Health conditions
The CHRE found no evidence that any of the health regulators discriminated against health professionals with health conditions when processing applications for registration, or maintaining their list of registered professionals.
However, the report underlined the importance of being able to raise concerns about a health professional’s management of their own health condition, which was seen as vital to ensuring the safety of both the public and colleagues.
The report also recommended that health regulators should provide better information about the role of health in its regulatory processes, to applicants, registrants, students and professionals considering their career options, and education and training providers.
Last year, the GMC produced guidance for medical schools on promoting access for disabled students to the health professions: Gateways to the Professions – advising medical schools: encouraging disabled students (see www.gmc-uk.org/education/undergraduate/undergraduate )