All doctors in the United Kingdom will be required to prove that they are competent, that their skills are up to date, and that they are willing to undergo continued monitoring of their skills if they wish to continue practising medicine, doctors' leaders agreed last week.
In what Sir Donald Irvine, president of the General Medical Council (GMC), described as a ”defining moment,“ the council endorsed proposals to overhaul the current regulation of doctors as recommended by a GMC steering group (6 February, p 349).
The new measures will come into effect in two years' time. They were agreed following pressure on the GMC and the medical royal colleges to update procedures for ensuring competence, largely as a result of the loss of public confidence in the profession after two surgeons were found guilty of professional misconduct following the deaths of 29 of 53 babies in their care at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Under the new procedures records of a doctor's performance will be kept on file locally and continually updated. Doctors will have to show that they are keeping abreast of developments in their field and undergo assessments, possibly every five years, by an independent assessor.
Anyone unwilling to comply with the regulations could be suspended and eventually struck off the register. ”If there was a matter concerning patient safety then that would trigger a referral to the performance procedure,“ explained Sir Donald.
The agreed procedure will apply to all doctors irrespective of position. Currently only specialists and GPs are bound by the GMC regulations but when the new proposals come into effect, junior doctors and locums will also be monitored, increasing the number of doctors under GMC supervision from 30000 to 180000.
Sir Donald described the debate that led up to the GMC's endorsement of revalidation as ”good humoured, searching, and informed.“ Plans to weaken the new procedures by amending the proposed scheme were heavily defeated during the debate.
A GMC steering group will now work with the profession, public representatives, the government, and healthcare managers on how to put the scheme into practice; a progress report will be issued in May followed by a further review in November. The GMC hopes that the model for revalidation will be fully operational within the next two years.