{"id":2514,"date":"2026-03-24T08:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2026-03-24T08:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:07:05","slug":"dauk-responds-to-government-plans-to-expand-gmc-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/dauk-responds-to-government-plans-to-expand-gmc-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"DAUK responds to Government plans to expand GMC powers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) has expressed serious concerns at Government plans to reform the General Medical Council (GMC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DAUK warned the proposals go against the Williams review and would \u2018dismay doctors across the country\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It said the timing of the announced reforms was \u2018troubling\u2019, coming as the GMC appeals the clearance of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dismay doctors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK co-chair, said: \u201cDoctors across the country will be dismayed that the government has abandoned the cross-profession consensus established by the Williams review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were promised the GMC would lose its power to appeal its own tribunal\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInstead, this consultation retains that power and creates new ones. At a time when the GMC is actively appealing the clearance of a doctor found to have committed no misconduct, the timing could not be more troubling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe framing of this announcement \u2013 as though the GMC has been too slow to punish doctors \u2013 ignores everything we know about how the GMC operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NHS Staff Survey results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIts own data shows ethnic minority doctors are disproportionately referred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe recently-published NHS Staff Survey shows one in 10 doctors were physically attacked at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe safety crisis in the NHS is not that doctors are getting away with misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is that doctors are being attacked, burned out and driven from the profession while a regulator with a proven track record of bias is handed yet more power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Human impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DAUK also pointed to the human impact of the current regulatory process. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmc-uk.org\/cdn\/documents\/report-on-doctors-who-have-died-while-under-investigation-or-during-a-period-of-monitoring-112203157.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gmc-uk.org\/cdn\/documents\/report-on-doctors-who-have-died-while-under-investigation-or-during-a-period-of-monitoring-112203157.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The GMC\u2019s own rolling three-year data<\/a> shows that 36 doctors died while under investigation or being monitored between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2023. The GMC reported fewer than three suicides to protect individual identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Shonnelly Novintan, DAUK\u2019s Learn Not Blame lead, said: \u201cThe framing of the reforms focus on individual doctors rather than addressing systemic pressures, and this contributes to a worsening blame culture at a time when doctors under investigation already face high suicide rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reforms, the Government said, are a major modernisation of medical regulation, describing them as the most significant changes since 1983.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rapid review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They follow a rapid review conducted by Lord John Mann into antisemitism and other forms of\u202fracism in the health service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alongside wider proposals, the Government is consulting on the first tranche of recommendations from Lord Mann&#8217;s review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GMC Order will consult on delivering\u202fthese recommendations into law, introducing three key changes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The GMC will\u00a0retain\u00a0its existing right to appeal decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to the courts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) will receive new powers to challenge interim decisions made by the MPTS, and the GMC will receive equivalent powers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regulators will be\u00a0required\u00a0to share information with the PSA when requested.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charlie Massey, GMC chief executive and registrar, said: \u201cThis is an important and long-awaited step towards a more responsive and compassionate approach to healthcare regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please support our work by contributing to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-the-work-of-the-doctors-association-uk-dauk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our crowd funder<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) has expressed serious concerns at Government plans to reform the General Medical Council (GMC). DAUK warned the proposals go against&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,92],"tags":[17,706,116,504],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compassionate-culture","category-learn-not-blame","tag-dr-matt-kneale","tag-dr-shonnelly-novintan","tag-gmc","tag-gmc-reforms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions\/2516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}