§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions in the patients charter offer(a) security, (b) reassurance, (c) appeal and (d) redress to elderly patients in respect of the possibility of being removed from their original general practitioner's list; and what representations he has received to amend (i) the charter and (ii) the law in these respects. [27246]
§ Mr. MaloneAll patients, regardless of age, have a patients charter right to be registered with a general practitioner. Health authorities have a legislative responsibility to ensure that this happens. There are no provisions in the patients charter to prevent general practitioners from removing patients from their lists.
Guidance issued by the General Medical Council in May 1992 makes it clear to general practitioners that it is unacceptable to discriminate against patients on grounds 130W of their age, sex, sexual orientation, race, colour, religious belief, perceived economic worth or the amount of work that they are likely to generate by virtue of their clinical condition. This guidance is intended to be read in conjunction with the booklet, "Duties of a Doctor". The GMC is the professional body for doctors and has a range of measures that it can take against a doctor who acts in a manner that it considers to be unacceptable.
We have received a number of representations regarding the law in this respect.