This approach is based on the principle that doctors who may be more at risk should be subject to a higher degree of scrutiny by the GMC compared with others, to whom a lighter touch will apply. In the first instance, the focus will be on doctors working outside a GMC ‘approved environment’ who do not have an employer at all, or who are employed but their employer does not have systems in place capable of providing assurance to the GMC about their fitness to practise.

The GMC would require all doctors to provide information describing their practice, which may include for example details about the scope of their work, the name of their employers if any and whether they practise within their specialty or outside it. An initial information gathering exercise would require all the UK’s practising doctors (around 120,000) to provide these details as a condition of being given a licence to practice.

Where doctors are not working within an approved environment patient and colleague questionnaires will be used to flag any concerns about fitness to practise.

The GMC say that changing the way they manage the licensing of doctors by gathering information about their practice will be a huge step forward in terms of enabling the GMC to analyse the activities of the medical workforce accurately.

• Our letter to the GMC 16th September 2005
• Our report of our meeting 1st December 2005 6th December 2005
• Their reply to us 7th January 2006
• Our press release 10th January 2006

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