Features: Taking the licence to the public
The GMC has published a leaflet called Understanding a doctor’s registration: a guide for patients and carers to help the public to understand how doctors are now registered
27 November 2009
Doctors asked to help inform patients and the public of licences to practice
The GMC has been letting patients know how the registration requirements for their doctors have changed with the introduction of the licence to practise. GMCtoday looks at how licensing is being brought to the public, and the role that doctors themselves can play.
On Monday 16 November the GMC introduced the licence to practise. From then onwards, doctors must be registered with a licence to practise in order to practise medicine in the UK and exercise various legal privileges (such as writing prescriptions and signing death certificates).
We have been working with doctors’ employers and a number of organisations that contract or commission the services of doctors to make sure their internal systems are ready for the launch of the licence.
It is of course equally important that patients understand the difference between doctors who hold registration with a licence and those who hold registration without a licence, particularly as only doctors who have a licence have the legal authority to work as doctors in the NHS or to write prescriptions.
Anne Weyman, a lay GMC Council member, believes that the role of doctors in explaining the changes over the coming months will be crucial. She told GMCtoday: ‘If patients have a question about licensing, their first port of call will undoubtedly be their local doctor.
‘We hope the work we have done over the past year with doctors and the information we have given them as part of this campaign means they are well equipped to answer any questions they receive from patients.’
Engaging with patients
In the lead-up to the introduction of the licence, the GMC worked with a number of patient organisations to ensure the public is aware of the new registration requirements for doctors.
To help patient groups support patients who may have a question about licensing, GMC representatives met with a range of patient groups across the UK to discuss the new arrangements, and to seek their advice about how best to communicate this change in the months ahead. These organisations include the Patients Association, Citizens Advice, the Patient and Client Council of Northern Ireland, the Community Health Councils of Wales, and a number of other complaints and advocacy groups in England.
Providing information for patients
The GMC has published a leaflet called Understanding a doctor’s registration: a guide for patients and carers to help the public to understand how doctors are now registered. The leaflet, which has been developed in partnership with public members of the GMC’s Reference Community:
- explains the role of the GMC and the purpose of the medical register
- explains that only doctors who are registered with a licence to practise
- are allowed, by law, to practise medicine in the UK and exercise a number of legal privileges such as writing prescriptions or signing death certificates
- reassures patients that they are entitled to ask doctors if they are registered with a licence to practise
- advises patients to visit the online Register (the List of Registered Medical Practitioners) if they would like to check the GMC status of a particular doctor
- explains what information is available on the online Register.
The leaflet, which is available in English, Welsh and seven other languages, can be downloaded from the understanding registration pages.
If you would like copies of this leaflet for your practice, consulting room or organisation, please email publications@gmc-uk.org
Explaining licensing to patients
If a patient asks you about licensing, you may find the following explanation helpful:
- the role of the GMC is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine
- one of the ways it does this is by maintaining a register of doctors who are qualified to practise
- doctors have to be registered with the GMC and hold a licence to practise if they wish to practise medicine in the UK
- it is the licence that gives doctors the legal authority to write prescriptions, and sign death and cremation certificates. It is illegal for doctors who only hold registration with the GMC to carry out these activities.
Patients can check their doctor’s GMC status at any time by visiting the online Register (which can be found at www.gmc-uk.org/register) or by calling the GMC on 0161 923 6602.