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Saturday, 15 July 2006 10:27
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
All doctors will have to prove they are safe to practise
Under a radical overhaul of regulation doctors will face "MoTs" every five years to make sure they are still fit to do their job, as part of proposals set out in the wake of the Shipman murders.

The UK's Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said a more robust testing process to determine if doctors should stay on the medical register would increase public confidence.

Yesterday, Sir Liam said his main concern was patient safety and he said there must be "a robust revalidation process".

"At present, a senior doctor can go through a 30-year career without undergoing a single assessment of their fitness to practise, whereas an airline pilot would face over 100 checks over a similar timescale," he said.

Under the proposals, out for consultation until November, the revalidation process would have two components.

The first, covering all doctors, would mean general five-yearly checks on performance before they are relicensed.

In addition, specialists like GPs and consultants would have to be re-certified in their particular speciality, with tests set by the relevant Royal College.

As well as five-yearly revalidation, Sir Liam also said that employers' annual appraisals of doctors needed to be made more consistent across the UK so these could feed into the assessments. The new proposals will also regulate nurses and chiropractors.

Sir Graeme Catto, president of the GMC, welcomed Sir Liam's proposals on revalidation, but said other recommendations would need more careful consideration. "We will continue our drive to create a modern, independent system of medical regulation which delivers for patients and commands the support of doctors," he said.

The British Medical Association criticised plans to change the burden of guilt in fitness-to-practise cases. "Patient safety is paramount and no-one wants to put people at risk by bad practice," the BMA chairman, James Johnson, said. "But it seems wrong to be able to take away a doctor's livelihood because of something found on a balance of probability, rather than proving something beyond reasonable doubt. It opens the door to miscarriages of justice”.

But the proposals were welcomed by the lawyer representing the families of Shipman's victims. Ann Alexander said: "The families of Shipman's victims deserve such a thorough reform to a system that failed them. We must maintain this momentum for change to safeguard not only our lives, but also the reputation of the NHS both in this country and throughout the world."

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "Public safety is paramount. That is why we welcome these reviews, which look to improve safeguards for patients. We look forward to using the consultation period to analyse in detail the implications of the report's recommendations”.

   


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