Doctors 'are looking after their own'

The watchdog in charge of regulating GPs, the General Medical Council, is heavily criticised for its procedures and its culture and has "fundamental" flaws, today’s report states.

The GMC sides too easily with its own profession and has failed to protect patients from rogue doctors. And despite changes brought in by the GMC , its culture has not changed enough to properly protect the public.

The 1300-page report by Dame Janet Smith, a High Court judge in charge of the Shipman Inquiry, lists more than 100 recommendations for change.

"Having examined the evidence, I have been driven to the conclusion that the GMC has not, in the past, succeeded in its primary purpose of protecting patients," Dame Janet said. "Instead it has, to a very significant degree, acted in the interests of doctors."

Dame Janet said the culture in the medical profession led to an imbalance of being fair to doctors ahead of protecting patients.

And she said she did not "feel confident" the GMC will change in the "right direction".

She also criticised the GMC for not going far enough in its reforms since Shipman and being too "reactive" - only acting after medical scandals come to light.

"There has not yet been the change of culture within the GMC that will ensure that patient protection is given the priority it deserves."

Mass killer Shipman, who worked at a one-man practice in Hyde, Greater Manchester, murdered at least 215 patients by lethal morphine injections. He was allowed to carry on practising by the GMC despite being convicted of drug offences in 1976 after becoming addicted to pethidine.

Although he had a very high death rate among his patients, other doctors did not raise concerns to stop his 23-year killing spree.

Shipman, 57, was jailed for life after being convicted of 15 counts of murder at Preston Crown Court in January 2000. He was found hanged in his cell in Wakefield Prison in January this year.

Dame Janet said: "One of the fundamental problems for the GMC is the perception, shared by many doctors, that it is supposed to be ‘representing’ them. It is not - it is regulating them."

She goes on to say her criticism in the report is likely to be "bruising" for the GMC.

This is the fifth report following the Shipman Inquiry, started by the Government in the aftermath of the doctor’s killing spree, to try to protect patients in future.

Today’s report, titled Safeguarding Patients: Lessons from the Past - Proposals for the Future, will be sent to the Department of Health to consider its recommendations.

Dame Janet called for the medical profession to lose its majority on the GMC. She said the number of lay members of the GMC should be increased, adding: "the GMC should be directly accountable to parliament." Dame Janet also said the GMC should introduce "a periodic evaluation of every doctor’s fitness to practise".

Dame Janet also made a number of recommendations to the NHS. The most significant were proposals to increase the amount of information about doctors available to employers and the public.

The report said: "There should be a central database containing information about every doctor working in the UK."

Dame Janet recommended the database, which would contain disciplinary records among other information, should be accessible to bodies such as the NHS, GMC and Department of Health.