BREAKING NEWS: GMC overhaul set to clamp down on racism and sexual abuse
General Medical Council (GMC) reforms designed to clamp down on racism and sexual abuse have been put forward by the Government.
(c) Hush Naidoo Jade Photography
The consultation on the GMC Order follows a rapid review into antisemitism and other forms of racism in the health service by Lord John Mann in November.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘The NHS is a universal health service, which means that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or belief, should feel safe seeking its care. It is unacceptable that this is not the current reality for many patients and staff, and I will not allow it to continue.’
The GMC Order will consult on delivering three key changes:
The GMC will retain its existing right to appeal decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to the Courts, ensuring there remains a robust check on fitness to practise outcomes
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) — the body that oversees all healthcare regulators — will receive new powers to challenge interim decisions made by the MPTS, and the GMC will receive equivalent powers
Regulators will be required to share information with the PSA when requested, strengthening the PSA’s ability to scrutinise regulatory decisions and intervene where necessary.
The consultation also proposes removing the current rule which prevents regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns involving allegations of historic sexual abuse after five years have passed.
Reaction
Alan Clamp, PSA chief executive said: ‘As the oversight body, we welcome the new power proposed for us to be able to require the GMC to provide information to us. This will be important in making sure we can access all of the information we need to assess the regulator against our standards when the new legislation is in place.’
Tom Reynolds, director of policy & communications at The MDU, said ‘proposals that the GMC should retain its right of appeal over MPTS decisions are profoundly concerning’.
Reynolds added: ‘These specific proposals should be called out for what they are: a betrayal. Since 2018, doctors have been repeatedly told – by successive governments – that as part of a reformed GMC legislative framework, the regulator would lose its right of appeal over tribunal decisions. Today, that promise lies in tatters.
Members of the medical profession can be assured that the MDU is firmly opposed to this U-turn. We have campaigned for years for the GMC to lose this right of appeal and will continue to fight for this.’
