Government to reconsult on GMC’s right to appeal tribunal decisions

GMC

By Erin Dean

The government will consult again on controversial plans to allow the General Medical Council to retain and extend powers to appeal tribunal decisions.

The BMA said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had “climbed down” after the union launched legal action against the proposed change.

Currently the GMC can appeal against a decision made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in the High Court - an approach it mainly uses if it feels a sanction is too lenient.

This power was widely expected to be removed during the current consultation on reforming the GMC’s legislation.

However there was consternation from a number of medical organisations when it was not only retained but also extended to cover interim registration measures.

The government has confirmed it will run a "supplementary consultation" focused specifically on this issue.

Removing the right to appeal was called for by the Williams Review in 2018 which followed the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, and has long been backed by doctors’ leaders who argue it is unfair and undermines the profession’s trust in the regulator.