Doctors to face annual check-ups on their competence

Published on Wednesday 23 July 2008 01:47

ALL of Britain's 150,000 doctors will face annual assessments so licences can be removed from poor performers, under radical proposals to be outlined by the Chief Medical Officer today.

GPs, hospital consultants and private practitioners will also have to renew their licences every five years under plans to be announced by Sir Liam Donaldson.

He will call for senior doctors to assess others who are practising in their area to ensure they are not putting patients at risk.

Patients will also be asked for their feedback during the assessment process – the first of its kind in the world.

Sir Liam's report, Medical Revalidation: Principle and Next Steps, will also suggest steps to ensure that doctors keep up to date with medical advances.

The annual assessments will look at prescribing habits, adequate assessment of a patient's condition and any personal issues which might affect their work, like a problem with drugs or alcohol. Trials will begin within two years.

Critics last night said the plans would mean doctors spending less time with patients and practising "defensive medicine".

The General Medical Council recommended continuing reviews of doctors' credentials ten years ago, after a series of scandals over medical incompetence.

Weaknesses in the monitoring system for GPs were also revealed by the case of Harold Shipman, who murdered up to 250 of his patients, usually with drugs that he had stockpiled.