§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how long investigations into allegations of professional misconduct for hospital practitioners and the final judgment have taken for the last five years; and what the status is of the person under investigation while the complaint is being processed. [28319]
§ Mr. HuttonThe General Medical Council does not collect data showing the time taken to conclude cases. Each case varies in complexity and length.
Unless an order has been made by the Interim Orders Committee, a doctor under investigation is free to practise pending conclusion of the case. However, after the screening decision to proceed with an investigation, the GMC notifies the doctor's employer who may take steps in relation to the doctor's continued employment.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers the General Medical Council has to discipline hospital practitioners who are found to have been guilty of(a) serious professional misconduct and (b) other less serious misconduct charges. [28317]
§ Mr. HuttonWhen the General Medical Council's Professional Conduct Committee has found a doctor guilty of serious professional misconduct, it can issue a reprimand to the doctor, impose conditions on a doctor's practice for up to three years, suspend the doctor's registration for up to 12 months, which may be renewed, or erase the doctor's name from the register. At present the Professional Conduct Committee has no other powers. The GMC has made proposals for dealing with less serious charges arid the Government will be considering how these might be implemented.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints about the conduct of hospital practitioners have been received in each year from 1997. [28318]
686Wby region in the last five years and (b) he estimates there will be in post in the next five years. [28880]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is in the table.
Latest projections suggest that by 2006 there will be an additional 143 trained specialists available to work within the specialty.
§ Mr. HuttonNational data collection on complaints includes data on the number of complaints made by profession, and separately on the subject of complaint.
The table shows the total number of complaints, complaints against medical staff, and what percentage of the total the latter represents. The complaints against medical staff cover a range of issues and not only questions of conduct.
Hospital and community health services 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 1997–98 Total number of complaints 95,994 86,536 86,013 88,757 Complaints against medical staff 43,930 38,261 37,382 36,883 Percentage of total 45.7 44.2 43.4 41.5 The number of complaints received by the GMC about doctor's conduct are as follows:
Year Number 2000 4,343 1999 3,001 1998 3,066 1997 2,687 The figures for 2001 are not yet published but the indications are that the 2001 figure is similar to the 2000 figure.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures have been introduced since 1997(a) to speed up the complaints process against hospital practitioners and (b) to increase the powers of the General Medical Council. [28320]
§ Mr. HuttonIn August 2000 the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 was amended to widen the General Medical Council's powers to act swiftly and effectively when a 687W doctor's fitness to practise is first called into question. It introduced a minimum five-year period before a doctor who has been struck off the register may apply for restoration. It also enabled the GMC to co-opt nonmembers of the Council to any of its committees chiefly to help tackle the backlog of cases.
The GMC have committed themselves to new service standards including that by May 2002, except in exceptional circumstances, cases are to be heard by the Professional Conduct Committee within a year of referral by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what regulations are in use to discipline hospital medical practitioners. [28316]
§ Mr. HuttonThe Department issued (Disciplinary Procedures for Hospital and Community Medical and Dental Staff) Health Circular (90)9 in 1990, a copy of which is in the Library. This sets out the procedures for handling disciplinary issues for medical and dental staff on nationally negotiated terms and conditions of service. These arrangements are now under review to make sure they meet the needs of the modern national health service.