Tighter regulation for doctors
More rigorous efforts to identify doctors who may pose a risk to patients are being proposed by the medical watchdog.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is considering making all doctors provide details about their work before they are allowed to practise.
The proposal will be considered at the GMC’s next meeting in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
The suggestion follows a succession of scandals that have dogged the medical profession, most notably the Harold Shipman murders.
Under the proposals, doctors deemed to pose the most risk would undergo a higher degree of scrutiny by the GMC.
The focus would initially be on doctors without an employer, or whose employers do not have systems in place to assess fitness to practise.
Concerns about these doctors will be identified through patient and colleague questionnaires. A Leeds University study has shown this to be a reliable and practical means of gathering evidence.
And the York Health Economics Consortium has been ask to investigate possible early indicators of serious impairment of fitness to practise.
GMC president Professor Sir Graeme Catto said: “The majority of doctors perform well in difficult circumstances and we are determined to concentrate enforcement resources on the small minority who present a threat to patient safety.
“Once we are able to establish where the genuine risk lies, these doctors will be subject to greater scrutiny while others will receive a lighter regulatory touch”, he said.
Professor Catto expressed a desire to work closely with employers to help them spot warning signs and prevent any failures in medical care.
The GMC’s council will consider the proposals at its next meeting, which takes place in Edinburgh next Tuesday.
