MDU mounts robust defence of doctors at the GMC

More than 96% of GMC cases in which doctors were represented by the MDU’s in-house lawyers in 2014 were resolved without a formal hearing, compared to the GMC’s non-referral rate of 91%.

And of the cases which resulted in a panel hearing, the MDU’s team of in-house lawyers achieved a finding of no impairment for doctors in 55.8% of cases over the past six years, compared to the GMC’s four-year average of 23.6%.

The MDU released the figures to reassure its members and to put in perspective the chances of a GMC investigation resulting in a Fitness to Practise hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).

Earlier this week, the GMC announced that it has new powers to appeal MPTS tribunal decisions, but the MDU said it thinks the powers will be used infrequently. 

Dr Catherine Wills, deputy head of advisory services at the MDU, said:

“We know that for doctors, a GMC investigation is something they most fear, so the recent announcement that the regulator can now appeal tribunal decisions may have come as an unwelcome shock. However there are two reasons why we want to reassure members. First is that the MDU’s in-house lawyers have a high success rate in defending members and most cases are closed at the GMC investigation stage. The second reason is that in the few cases that were referred to the MPTS in the last six years, in more than half there was no finding of impairment against the member.

“We expect appeals to be rare, but we will continue to protect our members’ interests by liaising with the GMC about how it intends to exercise its new powers.

“Our in-house legal team has a combined experience of 278 years of defending doctors at the GMC and this unparalleled knowledge and experience is vital when mounting a robust defence for members whose careers and professional reputations are at stake.”