Doctors reflections should be protected

Published 26 March 2018

The GMC has told the Williams Review into Gross Negligence Manslaughter that doctors' reflections are 'so fundamental to their professionalism' that UK and devolved governments should consider providing legal protection.

Giving evidence to the Review, GMC Chair Prof Sir Terence Stephenson said that Parliament and devolved governments should bring forward legislation to protect reflective practice if they saw fit to do so.

Prof Sir Terence Stephenson said: 'We have made it clear that the GMC will not ask for doctors’ reflective records as part of the fitness to practise processes. But we do not control the actions of the courts and recorded reflections, such as in ePortfolios or for CPD purposes, are not subject to legal protection. Therefore disclosure of these documents might be requested by a court if it is considered that they are relevant to the matters to be determined in the case. The likelihood of records needing to be produced in court may be reduced if reflective records focus on reactions to, and learning from, an incident.

'For our part, we have concluded that because doctors’ reflections are so fundamental to their professionalism, UK and devolved governments should consider how to protect them in law, if they see fit to do so.'

The Review was told that further work will be needed on how this might be put into practice. The Review also heard that the GMC has undertaken to consider how human factors training can be incorporated into its processes.

The GMC has commissioned a fundamental review of the application of the law concerning gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide to doctors which will be led by Leslie Hamilton.

The learning from the review will support just decision making and the application of the law, procedures and processes where allegations of gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide have arisen so that accountability is appropriately apportioned between healthcare systems and individual doctors. The outputs of the Williams Review will help to inform Leslie's when he reports his conclusions at the start of 2019.

Back
Notes to editors

Contact us

You can contact our Press Office team on 020 7189 5454. Or by email at press@gmc-uk.org.

About us

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of doctors in the UK.

The GMC works with doctors, their employers, their educators and others to:

  • set the standards of patient care and professional behaviours doctors need to meet.
  • make sure doctors get the education and training they need to deliver good, safe patient care.
  • check who is eligible to work as a doctor in the UK and check they continue to meet the professional standards it sets throughout their careers.
  • give guidance and advice to help doctors understand what’s expected of them.
  • investigate where there are concerns that patient safety, or the public’s confidence in doctors, may be at risk, and take action if needed.

The GMC is independent of government and the professionals it regulates, and is accountable to the UK Parliament.