Our memoranda of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a statement agreed by two or more organisations that commits them to working closely together to support each other’s goals.
We have a number of these agreements in place with organisations across the UK – including system regulators, public protection bodies, NHS agencies and others – to share knowledge. You can see our agreements listed below.
You can request more information by emailing partnerships@gmc-uk.org.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health care and adult social care services in England. They also protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.
Areas of information sharing include:
- cross referral of concerns
- approved practice settings
- revalidation of doctors.
Our agreement started in January 2013.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is the national healthcare improvement organisation for Scotland and part of NHS Scotland. Our working relationship supports the maintenance of a regulatory system for healthcare in Scotland. It also promotes patient safety and delivers quality healthcare.
Areas of information sharing include:
- information collected through monitoring of designated bodies and local education providers
- concerns about an organisation’s clinical, quality and educational governance
- concerns that relate to a particular doctor’s fitness to practise
- medical revalidation
- the training environment for medical students and doctors.
Our agreement started in March 2015.
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) is the regulator of healthcare in Wales. Our working relationship supports the maintenance of a regulatory system for healthcare in Wales. It also promotes patient safety and high quality healthcare.
Areas of information sharing include:
- cross-referral of concerns
- revalidation for doctors
- exchange of information
- Wales Concordat
- telemedicine.
Both organisations are also members of the Welsh Concordat, which supports the improvement of services for patients, service users and carers in Wales.
Our agreement started in June 2014.
Healthcare Professionals Crossing Borders is an informal partnership of around 50 professional healthcare regulators from Europe that works collaboratively on a range of regulatory issues. Their purpose is to contribute to patient safety in Europe through the effective regulatory collaboration in the context of cross-border healthcare and free movement of healthcare professionals. We are a member of this partnership.
This agreement commits each member to share information about healthcare professionals who have been subject to disciplinary or other sanctions imposed by a competent authority or other relevant body and which might affect the individual’s right to practise his profession, either in his country of establishment or another country.
- It covers sanctions and undertakings arising from criminal behaviour, professional misconduct, professional incompetence or poor performance.
- It also covers sanctions imposed as a result of impaired fitness to practise by reason of ill health.
Our agreement started in November 2011.
The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners are self-regulators of the non-surgical aesthetic industry in the UK and the point of access for the public seeking information about this area of practice and where appropriate for raising concerns about practitioners.
Areas of information sharing include:
- patient safety
- fitness to practise.
Read our full memorandum of understanding commitment
Our agreement started in April 2018.
NHS Counter Fraud Service (CFS), now NHS Protect, leads on work to identify and tackle crime across the health service. The aim is to protect NHS staff and resources from activities that would otherwise undermine their effectiveness and their ability to meet the needs of patients and professionals. Ultimately, this helps to ensure the proper use of valuable NHS resources and a safer, more secure environment in which to deliver and receive care.
Areas of information sharing include:
- sharing of expertise and experience in the development of investigative methodologies
- discussions about the strategy or policy of each organisation aimed at increasing the effectiveness of communication between them
- discussions about individual doctors, where one or both.
Our agreement started in March 2005.
The Counter Fraud Service Scotland (CFSS) serves to provide the NHS in Scotland with a comprehensive counter fraud service by delivering:
- pro-active detection of fraud and other irregularities against NHS Scotland
- full and fair investigations into alleged fraud or other irregularities by patients, staff, contractors or suppliers
- open access to those wishing to report fraud and other irregularities
- surveillance and covert human intelligence source management
- provision of specialist advice to assist in the formulation of counter fraud policy and regulations
- recovery of resources fraudulently or corruptly obtained from the NHS.
Areas of information sharing include:
- sharing of expertise and experience in the development of investigative methodologies
- discussions about the strategy or policy of each organisation aimed at increasing the effectiveness of communication between them
- discussions about individual doctors (where one or both organisations are investigating the doctor in question).
Our agreement started in January 2008.
The NHS Education for Scotland (NES) helps to provide better patient care by designing, commissioning, quality assuring and, where appropriate, providing education, training and lifelong learning for the NHS workforce in Scotland. Quality assurance of medical training is discharged in partnership with other bodies concerned with quality and regulation.
Areas of information sharing include:
- ongoing exchange of information and coordination of activities including those involving quality assurance
- bringing specific concerns to each organisation’s attention
- partnership working on standards setting and quality assurance
- professional development of individuals and, where appropriate, their remedial training
- educational provision with other professional bodies
- through the NES role in the delivery of appraisal for doctors and the relationship between revalidation and doctors' appraisal.
Our agreement started in January 2006.
The Practitioner Health Programme (PHP) provides advice, assessment and case management services for doctors with health concerns that relate to a mental health or addiction problem or a physical health problem which may impact on the doctor’s performance. Doctors approaching the PHP have the same rights to confidentiality as any other patient.
Communication between the PHP and ourselves is based on an overriding duty to protect patients, while, protecting confidential health information about individual doctors.
Areas of information sharing include:
- discussions about how best to manage concerns about a doctor, point of referral or post-referral to either organisation
- sharing method development, policies and procedures in relation to the assessment and supervision of doctors who are unwell
- communications and educational initiatives
- evaluation and research
- access to specialist expertise.
Our agreement started in December 2004, and was reviewed in June 2014.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) scheme was designated under the Higher Education Act 2004, which established this independent scheme to adjudicate on student complaints against universities in England and Wales, without charge to complainants. The OIA became designated operator of the student complaints scheme in January 2005.
The OIA contributes to high quality student experience in England and Wales by promoting good practice openness and transparency. The OIA and ourselves will share, proactively and on request, information that supports the other to carry out their key functions.
Areas of information sharing include:
- information relevant to concerns about standards and quality in complaints considered by the OIA
- information we have that may assist OIA in undertaking a review of complaints by individual students or groups of students
- information we have about systemic issues which may assist the OIA in undertaking a review of complaints
- summary information gathered through OIA scheme which identifies broad themes and concerns about quality and standards from across the sector or individual institutions
- information that OIA has that may assist us in regulation.
Our agreement started in November 2014.
The Privy Council makes arrangements with the regulatory bodies, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care and any other person to assist in its appointment functions in relation to the regulators and the Authority. Section 227 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 amends the National Health Service and Healthcare Professions Act 2002 to provide for this arrangement.
The appointment of members to the governing councils of the following regulatory bodies are covered by this memorandum of understanding:
- General Chiropractic Council
- General Dental Council
- General Medical Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Pharmaceutical Council
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) for Health and Social Care oversees statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK. They assess their performance, conduct audits, scrutinise their decisions and report to Parliament. They also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them. They were previously known as the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).
Areas of information sharing include:
- notices of GMC fitness to practise hearings
- notification of cases scheduled for GMC fitness to practise hearings
- GMC fitness to practise hearing determinations
- post-hearing correspondence
- GMC fitness to practise hearing transcripts
- GMC fitness to practise hearing exhibits.
Our agreement started in July 2014.
The working relationship between the RQIA and ourselves is part of the maintenance of a regulatory system for health and social care in Northern Ireland which promotes patient safety and high quality healthcare. RQIA is the regulator of health and social care in Northern Ireland.
Areas of information sharing include:
- cross-referral of concerns
- revalidation for doctors
- exchange of information
- telemedicine.
Our agreement started in January 2015.
Agreements under review
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcing the Health and Safety at Work Act etc. (HSWA) 1974 throughout Great Britain. Its job is to ‘prevent people being killed, injured or made ill by work’.
The HSWA sets out general duties which employers, the self-employed, and people in control of premises have towards their employees and others who could be affected by the work activities.
Collaborative working between the HSE and ourselves falls into two areas:
- the exchange of information
- communication and liaison.
The following areas are covered in the agreement:
- referral of matters of concern
- us informing HSE of concerns
- HSE informing us of concerns about individual doctors
- communication and liaison arrangements
- investigations and inquiries relevant to both bodies' functions
- data protection provisions.
This agreement has been in place since December 2012.
The Joint Board’s main objective is to promote public confidence in specialist public health practice in the UK.
This is achieved by:
- publishing a register of competent public health specialists
- making sure, through periodic revalidation, that public health specialists keep up to date and maintain competence
- dealing with registered public health specialists who fail to meet the necessary standards.
This agreement relates to the areas of interface between the Joint Board, and ourselves. Those registered doctors who are on our specialist register by virtue of a qualification in public health shall be entitled to be registered on the voluntary register without further assessment of their competence.
The following areas are covered in this agreement:
- exchange of information and coordination of activity
- if either organisation wishes to share information with the other
- communication arrangements
- reconciliation of disagreement.
This agreement has been in place since July 2004.
