MDU urges Government to reconsider GMC retaining right to appeal MPTS decisions

A medical defence organisation urged the health secretary to ‘change course’ on the GMC retaining its right to appeal against Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) fitness-to-practise decisions. 

The Government is currently consulting on recommendations for the GMC to gain new powers to challenge interim decisions made by the MPTS, as well as retaining its right to appeal MPTS decisions.

In a new letter to Wes Streeting, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) said the proposal caused ‘profound concern’. 

Currently, the GMC appeals in cases where it feels a MPTS sanction of a doctor has not sufficiently protected the public – but it was expected that long-awaited new legislation would strip the regulator of this right this year. 

Eight years ago, a ‘rapid review’ by the Government concluded that GMC should be stripped of these powers. It had been called following the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, who was convicted on gross negligence manslaughter charges in 2015 following the death of 6-year-old Jack Adcock in 2011, and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had previously committed to progress the necessary legislation by the end of 2023. 

Thomas Reynolds, the MDU’s executive director (Policy & Communications), said: ‘A fitness to practise investigation can be amongst the most difficult of times in a doctor’s career, and the toll it can take on them, their families and colleagues cannot be overstated.  

‘Yet, instead of honouring a promise made to the profession for something approaching a decade, the Government in this consultation is now proposing a complete policy reversal.

‘I urge the government, in the strongest possible terms, to change course. The GMC should lose its right of appeal over MPTS decisions.’ 

Another medical defence organisation, the Medical & Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS), also criticised the consultation’s proposal.

Dr John Holden, chief medical officer at MDDUS told Pulse: ‘This is a sizeable consultation, and we’re in the process of working through the draft order so we can give a fully considered response.

‘However, proposals for the GMC to retain its right of appeal over tribunal decisions are deeply concerning. Doctors have been promised since 2018 that this power would be removed as part of wider reforms to the GMC processes. Reversing course now is a hugely disappointing U-turn that risks undermining trust in the system.’

The GMC declined to comment in response to the MDU’s letter.

It comes as the MDU published results of a survey of its GP members which found more than a third (37%) ‘have considered leaving the profession due to workplace pressures’. 

The survey, of 417 GPs or GPs in training, also found that 64% said they were not confident that their current level of workplace pressure would improve in the next 12 months. 

As a result of these workplace pressures, 43% of doctors report poor mental or physical health due to pressure, and a majority (51%) of GPs have considered reducing working hours.