The White Paper and regulatory reforms: Beginning the end of professional self-regulation for doctors

1 in 2007 proposes several changes in the composition and functioning of the councils that regulate health professionals, including the General Medical Council (GMC). Some of these changes include-I. AssurAnce of Independence In the governAnce And AccountAbIlIty of the professIonAl regulAtors. Parity of membership between lay and professional • members for the regulators to be and seen to be independent and impartial, with enhanced accountability to the Parliament. Independent appointment of the council members than • election to dispel the perception that councils are overly sympathetic to the profession they regulate Reducing the size of the councils and making them more-• board like to enable them to focus more effectively on strategy and the oversight of their executives. Deferring mergers of the professional regulatory bodies, The White Paper also outlines robust revalidatory mechanisms for all statutorily regulated health professionals who will periodically be required to demonstrate their fitness to practise. There are two core components to the proposed revalidation – relicensure and recertification. a) For relicensure, all doctors will have a licence to practise to remain on the medical register, to be renewed every five years. This will be based on annual appraisal system which will be modified to have a summative (judgemental) element in addition to the current formative (developmental) structure. A 360 o feedback system will also be piloted in England. b) Specialist re-certification will apply to specialist doctors, including general practitioners requiring them to meet the standards set and assessed by the medical Royal colleges and respective specialist societies. It is recognised that the current system for tackling poor performance has a " regulatory gap " whereby a doctor may not inspire confidence of his colleagues or employers, but his or her performance is not so poor that referral to the GMC is indicated. To bridge this gap two changes are proposed at local level – Introduction of " GMC affiliates " (mostly senior • clinicians) at a regional level in England, and at a national level in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.