Pressure on GPs impacts patient care, GMC chief says
GPs are under more pressure than any other group of doctors and must feel confident in regulatory processes to prevent the practise of ‘defensive medicine’, General Medical Council (GMC) Chief Executive Charlie Massey told an audience in Cardiff today.
Mr Massey, speaking at the Pulse LIVE Cardiff event, acknowledged that GPs face a challenge to provide the best possible care for patients in the face of increasing time and capacity pressures.
He said:
‘At a time when so many GPs are working in such challenging circumstances, it is understandable that the possibility of a complaint or regulatory investigation can weigh heavily. And when complaints from members of the public are rising, it is understandable that those worries can be amplified.
‘We have seen the impact that can have in the recent Pulse white paper, with reports of more GPs practising defensively because of fears about regulatory consequences.'
Mr Massey told the audience that, despite those fears, ‘the overwhelming majority’ of GPs will never find themselves subject to a fitness to practise investigation.
In 2024, the number of cases involving GPs that went to a tribunal was the equivalent of just one for every 1,400 licensed GPs. The number who ultimately received a sanction was even smaller.
But Mr Massey also said that ‘it would not be enough simply to explain our processes if we were not also prepared to improve them’.
He highlighted the positive impact of provisional enquiries – introduced allow the regulator to deal with cases more efficiently by gathering extra information at an early stage – on the GMC’s triage process.
This has led to more cases being closed earlier and without the need for a full investigation. On average, provisional enquiry cases can be completed in nine weeks, compared to around nine months for cases that proceed to an investigation.
He also announced that the GMC is to publish a new annual fitness to practice report later this summer:
‘We publish our data each year, but we want to provide more context around the figures, helping people understand not just the numbers, but what they mean. That helps support a more informed conversation, one that benefits doctors, patients and the public alike.
‘While I’m confident that the changes we’ve made have made a real difference, I know that fairness and proportionality cannot simply be declared. They have to be visible in the way we work. That means being transparent about how our processes operate, the decisions we make and the outcomes we reach.’
Mr Massey concluded:
‘The way regulation is understood and experienced can have a real impact on how doctors work and the decisions they make. That means we must continue listening, learning and changing, while remaining transparent about what we do and why we do it.
‘It means continuing to develop a system that supports doctors to practise confidently and professionally, while maintaining the standards that patients rightly expect.
‘When doctors have confidence that complaints will be handled proportionately and fairly, regulation can support openness and learning rather than fear and defensiveness.’
