Help us improve our fitness to practise procedures

Doctors could accept sanctions, including suspension and erasure, without having to go before a hearing under new proposals. We are consulting on how we can deliver a quicker system that is fair to doctors and patients.

Help us improve our fitness to practise procedures
Doctors could accept sanctions, including suspension and erasure, without having to go before a hearing under new proposals. We are consulting on how we can deliver a quicker system that is fair to doctors and patients.

Protecting patients must always be our first priority in handling concerns about a doctor's practice. However, we believe we can do this without necessarily subjecting both doctors and patients to public hearings which can be long, stressful, expensive and harrowing for all parties.

Instead, we are proposing that we will try to reach agreement with doctors about what action needs to be taken to protect patients and the reputation of the profession without the need for a hearing. Where a doctor does not accept the sanction we put forward or where there is a significant dispute about the facts, the case would still be referred for a hearing. 

We are also proposing that doctors convicted of serious crimes such as murder and rape are not fit to practise medicine and should simply be erased from the register.

It is vital that all our work in this area remains transparent and we would continue to publish concerns and any sanctions on our website, whether a case went to a hearing or not.

'We are here to protect patients and that means making sure that only doctors who are fit to practise are able to do so,' said Niall Dickson, the Chief Executive of the General Medical Council.

'But we are not here to punish doctors or even to provide redress to patients - there are other ways to achieve that. Attending a hearing can be a traumatic experience for everyone involved and if a doctor is willing to accept sanctions that would achieve the same goal of protecting patients it makes sense to avoid the expense and stress of the hearing process.'

These changes would be major reforms and we want anyone with an interest in our work to have the chance to contribute and respond.

How can I respond?

You can read and respond to the consultation document here. To request a hard copy, email publications@gmc-uk.org.

The consultation closes on 11 April 2011.

We will be consulting separately on proposals to ensure the independence of the panels who conduct fitness to practise hearings and we will let you know through this ebulletin when the consultation opens and how you can respond.