Policy responses and statements

Name of organisation:

General Medical Council

Name of policy document:

Fitness to Practise: Consensual Disposal & Guidance to the GMC's Fitness to Practise Rules

Deadline for response:

17 July 2007

Background: The GMC is consulting on proposals to change its rules for disposing of cases consensually at the investigation stage of its fitness to practise procedures. The GMC is also consulting on revised guidance to its Fitness to Practise Rules.

Consensual Disposal - What does the GMC mean by 'consensual disposal'?

Consensual disposal has been available for some time to deal with doctors whose fitness to practise may be impaired by reason of deficient performance of ill-health. The current Fitness to Practise Rules make provision for doctors to acknowledge that they have a serious impairment of one kind or another as an alternative to being referred to a Fitness to Practise panel. This will usually occur following a performance or health assessment, if the assessment reports indicate that the doctor's fitness to practise is impaired. The doctor may be invited to acknowlege the impairment and enter into binding undertakings.

These binding undertakings will often involve agreements in relation to restricting practice, further training and other programmes to support the rehabilitation of the doctor while continuing to protect patients and the public. The undertakings are monitored and regularly reviewed. Undertakings that restrict a doctor's practice are published in the List of Registered Medical Practitioners on the GMC's website.

A recent amendment to the Medical Act provides for the extension of these arrangements to all cases in which doctors recognise impairment and are prepared to accept limitations on their registration.

The GMC sought views on its proposals to extend the scope for disposing of cases consensually at the investigation stage of its procedures.

Revised Guidance to the Fitness to Practise Rules 2004:

The GMC would also sought views on draft guidance to the Fitness to Practise Rules 2004 (the rules). The rules were introduced in 2004 and provide the legal framework for the GMC's reformed fitness to practise procedures. The GMC consulted on the rules and guidance in 2004.

The GMC has made a number of changes to the guidance to provide some additional information on how the Fitness to Practise Rules are applied in practise. The GMC hopes that this more detailed guidance will be useful to all parties involved in its fitness to practise procedures. Comments were invited on any aspect of the revised guidance.

COMMENTS ON
GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL
FITNESS TO PRACTISE: CONSENSUAL DISPOSAL & GUIDANCE TO THE GMC'S FITNESS TO PRACTISE RULES

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is pleased to respond to the General Medical Council on its consultation on Fitness to Practise: Consensual Disposal & Guidance to the GMC's Fitness to Practise Rules.

The College is broadly in agreement with the proposed extensions to consensual disposal arrangements and has the following comments:

• Consensual disposal can only be fair, and seen to be fair, where the facts are not in dispute and erasure is not an option given the circumstances of the case.

• There is some concern about the weight given to a complainant’s right to insist on a “Fitness to Practice” hearing in cases when undertakings would be appropriate.  This may be neither fair to the individual doctor who may be ill-equipped to cope with a hearing (i.e. for health reasons) nor cost effective for the GMC.

• The College agrees that any undertakings must be placed in the public domain and that adherence is monitored effectively.

Copies of this response are available from:

Lesley Lockhart,
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
9 Queen Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1JQ.

Tel: 0131 225 7324 ext 608
Fax: 0131 220 3939

[16 July 2007]