GMC must focus on "significant breaches" only, say doctors

The motion, passed in full, said the regulator also must not impose sanctions on vulnerable doctors as a way of sending a message to the wider medical profession. Proposing the motion, Scottish consultants committee member Tamasin Knight said, ???Doctors under investigation by the GMC are dying. There is a culture of fear around the GMC, a fear that anything in your work or personal life, any mistake, any poor judgement, any disagreement, could end up under their scrutiny. The GMC must focus on serious allegations only, everything else they need to keep out of.??? GMC data show that between January 2018 and December 2020, 29 doctors died???five by suicide???while under investigation or monitoring by the regulator.1 The motion urged the BMA to lobby the GMC to ensure that all investigations are conducted in a ???more timely manner,??? and that the regulator commits to trauma informed practice with direct fact finding with the subjects of investigations rather than relying entirely on third party contributions. Commenting on the motion, BMA chair Chaand Nagpaul said, ???This motion is important but it needs to go further. The entire system is weighted against doctors. We found, for example, the GMC has access to hospital records in a one sided manner. The doctor being complained about doesn???t have the same access.