Time for radical revision at the UK General Medical Council

Abstract

Thank goodness for Mr Justice Collins' sense of proportion and common sense in his judgment concerning Roy Meadow's “honest mistakes” (Feb 25, p 625).1Horton R Roy Meadow: a welcome reversal of fortune, with lessons.Lancet. 2006; 367: 625-626Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar The untold damage to child protection in the UK from the General Medical Council (GMC) Disciplinary Panel's decision against Meadow will take years to repair.Sitting on the old GMC for 19 years, I witnessed the increasing political influence on medical regulation. In my view, the GMC is no longer the custodian of the medical profession's conscience. Radical revision is required. As has previously been suggested, a physician's conduct should be judged by an independent medical tribunal chaired by a barrister instead of the current politically correct “star chamber”.I declare that I have no conflict of interest. Thank goodness for Mr Justice Collins' sense of proportion and common sense in his judgment concerning Roy Meadow's “honest mistakes” (Feb 25, p 625).1Horton R Roy Meadow: a welcome reversal of fortune, with lessons.Lancet. 2006; 367: 625-626Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar The untold damage to child protection in the UK from the General Medical Council (GMC) Disciplinary Panel's decision against Meadow will take years to repair. Sitting on the old GMC for 19 years, I witnessed the increasing political influence on medical regulation. In my view, the GMC is no longer the custodian of the medical profession's conscience. Radical revision is required. As has previously been suggested, a physician's conduct should be judged by an independent medical tribunal chaired by a barrister instead of the current politically correct “star chamber”. I declare that I have no conflict of interest.