The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has instructed solicitors and is considering its next steps over the government’s plans to retain and extend the General Medical Council’s (GMC) power to appeal decisions of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).
DAUK took legal advice on the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on the draft General Medical Council Order 2026.
The association is now weighing its position alongside the British Medical Association (BMA), which has begun legal proceedings against the government over the same issue.
The draft Order proposes preserving and widening the GMC’s right of appeal against MPTS decisions, which is a significant reversal of the policy consensus reached after the Bawa-Garba case.
Williams Review
Following the independent Williams Review in 2018, the government accepted that the GMC’s right of appeal against MPTS decisions should be removed, in order to strengthen the independence of medical adjudication and rebuild doctors’ trust in the regulator. The draft Order abandons that commitment.
DAUK also shares the BMA’s concern that the consultation misrepresents the findings of Lord Mann’s review and fails to give consultees enough information to respond meaningfully – raising questions about whether the consultation process is lawful.
DAUK co-chair Dr Matt Kneale said: “Eight years ago, after the Williams Review, the government accepted that the GMC should lose its power to appeal tribunal decisions – the very power used against Dr Bawa-Garba, which did such lasting damage to doctors’ trust in the GMC.
Broken promise
“For ministers now to quietly retain and even extend that power, through a consultation that doctors say misrepresents the evidence and gives them too little to respond to, breaks that promise.
“We have taken legal advice and, alongside the BMA, we are actively considering our next steps.”
Meanwhile, DAUK has joined 12 other medical organisations urging the government to reconsider its plan to retain the GMC’s right to appeal the decisions of its own tribunal service.
Coalition of medical organisations
In a joint letter to Minister of State for Health, Karin Smyth MP, the coalition argues the GMC’s right of appeal risks seriously undermining the profession’s and the public’s trust in the independence of the tribunal process, and the regulator itself.
Read more about the coalition’s calls.
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