A doctor-led lobbying group has urged the health secretary to review the GMC’s ability to appeal its own fitness-to-practice tribunal.

In a letter to Matt Hancock, the Doctor’s Association UK said the GMC’s right to appeal the MPTS has led to ‘significant unwelcome and unintended consequences’.

Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal overturned a GMC-led High Court decision to strike-off Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, after the MPTS had called for her suspension following the death of Jack Adcock.

Following the case, the Government launched a ‘rapid review’ into the use of gross negligence manslaughter charges in medicine, concluding that the GMC should no longer have the right to appeal MPTS decisions.

However, Pulse revealed that the GMC is not intending to halt appeals against the MPTS until the law is changed.

The letter, which is co-signed by other lobbying groups including GP Survival and Doctors in Unite, said the case made doctors ‘feel that we too, could be pursued through the courts for errors made whilst simply trying our best’.

It said: ‘We, the undersigned, all agree that the GMC cannot be trusted to take a balanced and considered approach in the sanction of doctors who have made honest mistakes in the context of system failures.’

The letter added: ‘We are concerned that should the GMC’s action continue unchecked, that there will be a further breakdown in trust between the medical profession and its regulator, and the NHS will continue to move towards a culture of fear and blame, rather than one of learning.’

The association then urges Mr Hancock to:

• Call upon the GMC to cease appealing MPTS verdicts

• Confirm that the GMC’s right to appeal MPTS verdicts will be repealed, as per the recommendations of the Williams Review

• Set out a timeframe for when and how this legislation will be changed

The letter comes after the appeals court told the GMC to show ‘restraint’ after it quashed another GMC-bid to sanction a doctor last month.

These concerns relate to cases being brought to the Court of Appeal by the GMC in an attempt to overrule the findings of doctors’ tribunal proceedings, in order to have doctors erased from the medical register. DAUK and its affiliates are calling for the Health Secretary to undertake an urgent review of the current and ongoing actions of the GMC, and to put a stop to such appeals being brought, pending a review of relevant legislation.

This call for action has come following the landmark case involving Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba. The GMC had sought to overturn a decision made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), in order to erase Dr Bawa-Garba from the medical register. To the relief of the medical profession, the Court of Appeal unanimously rejected the GMC’s case, and ruled that Dr Bawa-Garba ought to be reinstated to the medical register, thus allowing her to continue to work as a doctor.

The Bawa-Garba case resulted in the launch of the Williams Review, with recommendations being made in June of 2018. Professor Norman Williams stated that the GMC ought to have its right to appeal MPTS verdicts removed, and noted that granting the GMC this right of appeal in 2015 had come with significant unwelcome and unintended consequences. DAUK concludes that the GMC cannot be trusted to take a balanced and considered approach in placing sanctions upon doctors in circumstances such as those faced by Dr Bawa- Garba – doctors making honest mistakes in the context of system failure.

The Doctors’ Association UK are alarmed to learn that, despite the outcome of the Bawa-Garba case, along with the recommendations of the Williams Review, the GMC has continued to appeal MPTS verdicts in the courts. Within the last weeks, the GMC has been urged to show “restraint”, and judges have expressed “regret” at such cases having been brought to the Court of Appeal. DAUK understands that there are a further four appeals due to be heard, all of which involve the GMC appealing to overturn tribunal verdicts.

The Doctors’ Association UK believes that the continuation of such unchecked action by the GMC will lead to a further breakdown in trust between the medical profession and its regulator, with a progressive move towards a culture of fear and blame, rather than one of learning. DAUK urges the Health Secretary to request that the GMC halts its appeals against MPTS verdicts forthwith. Furthermore, DAUK asks the Health Secretary to confirm that the recommendations of the Williams review will be upheld, and that the relevant changes to legislation are made without delay.

read the full letter here