HL Deb 27 January 2005 vol 668 cc60-2WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In December, my noble friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Warner) announced that the launch of the General Medical Council's revalidation scheme should not start until doubts raised by Dame Janet Smith had been resolved. He said that it would be unfair to doctors and confusing for patients to start the new revalidation scheme until the question marks raised by Dame Janet on the evidence doctors would be required to submit had been answered.

His announcement followed the publication of the fifth Shipman Report, Safeguarding Patients: Lessons from the past—Proposals for the Future. In her report, Dame Janet Smith made it clear that she had concerns that the GMC's revised fitness to practise and revalidation procedures would not help to improve patient protection or safety sufficiently.

I take what Dame Janet has said very seriously. I am determined to respond carefully and robustly to her recommendations to ensure that we develop a very strong patient protection plan. We want to put an end to the idea that the General Medical Council is a representative body for doctors. It is not. Its primary role must be to protect patients.

In order to ensure that it does this effectively I have asked the Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson to undertake a review and report his advice to me on what further measures are necessary to:

  • strengthen procedures for assuring the safety of patients in situations where a doctor's performance or conduct pose a risk to patient safety or the effective functioning of services;
  • ensure the operation of an effective system of revalidation; and
  • reconfigure the role, structure and functions of the General Medical Council.

I have asked the Chief Medical Officer to report to me later this year. This will minimise any delay to the introduction of measures that will both improve patient safety and ensure that doctors are fit to practise. The Chief Medical Officer will put an emphasis on patient safety. He will draw on the findings and recommendations made by Dame Janet and other inquiries on poor clinical performance and misconduct. An advisory group that includes experts from organisations representing consumer, healthcare quality and professional interests will support him.

Dame Janet made a number of recommendations not directly covered by the terms of reference of the Chief Medical Officer's review. Our consideration of these recommendations will continue in parallel to the work of the review, focusing particularly on improving measures designed to safeguard patients and improve the quality of the services provided to them.

The full list of interest groups represented on the CMO's advisory group are:

  • Professor Carol Black, President of the Royal College of Physicians
  • Professor Sir Graeme Catto, President of the General Medical Council
  • Mr James Johnson, Chairman of the British Medical Association
  • Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, Chairman of the Healthcare Commission
  • Mr Harry Cayton, Director for the Patients and Public
  • Dr Sheila Adam, Director of Public Health of the North East London Strategic Health Authority
  • Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, President of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
  • Professor Angela Coulter, Chief Executive of the Picker Institute
  • Ms Janice Barber, Managing Partner at Hempsons Solicitors
  • Clara MaKay, Director of Policy and Research at Breast Cancer Care
  • Dr Mayur Lakhani, Chairman of Council at the Royal College of General Practitioners
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  • Mr Michael Morgan, Director of the Change Partnership; former Human Resources Director of Northern Food
  • Niall Dickson, Director of the Kings Fund
  • Malcolm Dean, Journalist at the Guardian Newspaper
  • Mrs Karen Straughair, Chief Executive of Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust
  • Jenny Simpson, Chief Executive of the British Association of Medical Managers
  • Captain Lowe, former Chief Pilot at British Airways
  • Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council
  • Jane Wesson, Chair of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence