Features: Help and support at hearings
The virtual hearing room.
29 January 2010
New initiative to help doctors and public.
Attending and giving evidence in a fitness to practise hearing can be a daunting process for both members of the public and doctors alike.
A new GMC project aims at improving the support given to doctors and witnesses at GMC hearings, to demystify the process and make it less daunting for all those involved. New initiatives and materials will make our procedures more open and transparent, offering assurance and guidance.
The initiatives have been welcomed by doctors’ representatives. Dr Nick Clements, of the Medical Protection Society said: ‘It's very useful material to assist people unfamiliar with the GMC process, whether they are a witness, or a doctor facing charges. It helps create a feeling of familiarity with the process that should help to reduce the stress associated with attending a hearing.’
A virtual world
One of the initiatives is a new virtual hearing room allowing doctors, patients, and witnesses to take a virtual step inside a hearing, so users can tour the room and see who is attending, and why.
The site includes 12 characters of all those who might attend a hearing, such as lay and medical members of the panel, and a doctor’s representative. All of the characters can be clicked on for an explanation of who they are and what role they play in a hearing. The site also shows the reception area and waiting rooms for doctors and witnesses so that anyone attending a hearing can arrive feeling more comfortable with their surroundings.
Information for doctors
In addition, the GMC is also publishing specific information for doctors whose cases are due to be considered by a Fitness to Practise Panel. The new guidance, which will be published online and will shortly be available in print, will help doctors to prepare for their hearing by providing them with advance, detailed information on what to expect at a hearing including what support is available. It is expected that the information will be particularly useful for unrepresented doctors. It is also hoped that the guidance will help improve hearing efficiency.
The guidance was put together with support from panellists, legal assessors, our independent Case Manager, GMC Counsel, the MPS and MDU, who all helped produce the final version.
Help for vulnerable witnesses
We are also launching a project to support vulnerable witnesses. This project allows witnesses to come into the GMC’s buildings in advance of the hearing and be shown round. They can also ask to be joined by an independent ‘friend’, assigned on the day of the hearing, to provide support. The project builds on an existing section for witnesses on the GMC website which has photos of the building and information about the processes which they can expect.
Joan Martin, Chair of the GMC Fitness to Practise Reference Group, said: ‘We wanted to ensure that we can support the different needs and requirements of vulnerable witnesses, so that the experience of attending and giving evidence at a GMC fitness to practise hearing is as positive as possible under the circumstances.’
Letters will be issued to all witnesses, along with our Help for Witnesses booklet, explaining the role of the witness and advising that, if they feel they would like additional support, to contact us and we may be able to put them in touch with an external organisation. In addition to this, if a solicitor or investigation officer identifies a witness as needing additional support they will raise this with the witness to see if they would like to take up the expertise of the external organisations.
Vulnerable witnesses are defined in our Fitness to Practise Rules, and include: anyone under age of 17; those with a mental disorder; people having significantly impaired intelligence and social functioning; anyone with physical disabilities who requires assistance to give evidence; any witness where the allegation against the practitioner is of a sexual nature and the witness was the alleged victim; and any witness who complains of intimidation. The project began on 1 November 2009 and is to run for six months and covers hearing in both Manchester and London.
Demystifying hearings
Katherine Murphy, Director of the Patients Association said of the initiatives: ‘We are pleased that the GMC is continuing to support patients as they go through the process of attending or giving evidence during a hearing. This can be particularly challenging for vulnerable witnesses. This initiative should help to make a formal process seem less daunting.’
Paul Philip, the GMC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Standards and Fitness to Practise, said: ‘The vast majority of doctors do a good job in often difficult circumstances. We know this because of the 218,000 doctors practising in the UK, we receive around 5,000 complaints per year, and around 200 come before a public hearing.’
‘But attending and giving evidence in a hearing can be a daunting process for members of the public and doctors alike. We hope that this initiative will offer some peace of mind to all those who are called to give evidence at our hearings, and that the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the process and the look and feel of a hearing will help to demystify it.’
View the virtual hearing room.
Information for doctors.
The vulnerable witnesses project.