Roll Up, Roll Up. Re-Open your GMC Complaints

A judgment created by the General Medical Council has been uploaded to Bailli. We are extremely pleased that Collins J has created such an excellent judgment. This means the GMC will finally have to do some work.

Many complainants who have had their valid complaints thrown out at Registrars stage can now approach the General Medical Council again using the case law R v General Medical Council Ex Parte Pal. We suggest that this case is downloaded, saved and passed around. For all those complainants who didn't get their negligent doctors the first time around can now get them a second time.

Represent your case adding this case law which essentially states that unless a complaint is plainly ludicrous, it should be investigated under Stream 1 [most dangerous doctors]. If the General Medical Council refuse to consider, it the applicant should be able to win in court hands down on this case law. This is newly created GMC case law designed to take all doctors down Stream 1. The General Medical Council hired Mark Shaw QC to create the arguments within this case. Such excellent taste and all complainants should be thankful that he has created such a masterpiece.

The above case law applies to all new complainants as well. Yes, you can now take the doctor through the General Medical Council on any complaint. Moreover, this case law is useful for group actions, class actions and any other litigation.

Excellent. Just what the GMC ordered as part of their targets. Moreover, the other excellent feature is that doctors are not entitled to Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 ie that they have less rights than your average terrorist.

So what are you waiting for - take the case law and get that doctor into the General Medical Council like you always wanted to.

First it is important to email Mark Ellen and request a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998. Request the Triage documents if the complaint has been discarded at Registrars stage. Follow the directives listed by Collins J above and then outline your complaint to Neil Marshall NMarshall@gmc-uk.org . Neil will be awaiting your complaints and concerns as he is keen to ensure 100 percent of all complaints are investigated through Stream 1.

And then they came for the doctors.

The threshold of misconduct as been lowered. Misconduct has been inserted into the Medical Act 1983 instead of Serious Professional Misconduct. Misconduct to the GMC means anything they disapprove of. That means should you communicate with an Indian accent, that could technically amount to misconduct. That coupled with the lowered civil standard of proof has now resulted in a catastrophe. Pulse reports a dramatic rise in doctors referred by the case examiners to Fitness to Practise hearings.

From Pulse

GMC cases rocket after civil standard switch

10 Jun 09

By Steve Nowottny

Exclusive: The number of doctors referred by GMC case examiners to fitness-to-practise hearings increased dramatically last year – prompting warnings that the switch to the civil standard of proof may be putting GPs at greater risk of sanction.

New fitness-to-practise statistics published by the GMC reveal 359 doctors were referred to hearings by case examiners in 2008, compared with 196 in 2007 – an 83% rise.

The total number of cases dealt with by the GMC rose only slightly, but the proportion referred to hearings jumped by almost two-thirds – from 17% to 28%.

The GMC insisted: ‘It is clear to us that the nature of the concerns being referred to the GMC from the NHS and the police is more serious than in recent years. This accounts for the higher rate of referral to fitness-to-practise hearings. There is no evidence the move to the civil standard of proof has had any bearing.’

But medical defence experts told Pulse they believed the dramatic rise in referrals to a hearing could be the first indication of an impact from last year’s switch to the civil standard of proof.

Dr Peter Schütte, head of advisory services at the Medical Defence Union, said: ‘It’s probably too early to draw any hard conclusions, but it may well be that the change in standard of proof is having an impact.

‘Intuitively and logically this seems a possible explanation – that case examiners are saying now we’ve got a lower standard of proof, this case is more likely to be upheld and therefore we’ll push it through.’

Dr Stephanie Bown, director of policy and communications at the Medical Protection Society, said there was ‘undoubtedly’ a link between the rise in referrals and the switch to the civil standard of proof, but that it would take longer for the full effects of the change to become apparent.

‘It’s early days, so next year will be very interesting,’ she said.

Dr Krishna Korlipara, a former GMC council member and a GP in Bolton, said the ‘significant’ rise demanded further investigation.

‘I can’t see this as a statistical blip,’ he said. ‘Case examiners cannot always determine at the stage of screening, when faced with multiple charges against a doctor, which of the charges might be decided under the civil standard of proof.

‘As a result, they may be playing safe by referring more cases on to the panels.’

The GMC may now face a backlog of cases as a result of the increased number of hearings. The GMC council heard last month it had not been possible to schedule hearings for 17 cases within its own target timescales.

The GMC insisted it had now cleared the backlog.

Revalidation News. Yes, all doctors hate it

"A poll carried out for The Times of more than a thousand hospital consultants and GPs found last week that one in six doctors was considering a change in career due to the new regulations, while one in 12 might stop practising medicine altogether"

Further reading in the Times.

Clearly, the GMC are losing their grip!

The Amateur Defectives

Catering for Tarts at the GMC

The Independent's masterpiece on Susan George case has yet a number of big wigs dissing the General Medical Council. It is as if they all come in droves just for a party . We are surprised that Peter Walsh of AVMA didn't do his party piece. It is becoming like a communal dart show with the GMC's face right in the middle.

On the opposite side of the scale, the GMC made Susan George wait for more than a decade, yet Penny Mellor [ Ms Gob full of upside down logic] is their favourite complainant. Mellor hardly waits for her complaints to be considered. Indeed, teams of GMC workers are part of her dedicated entourage.

Teams of GMC defectives have been set up just for her. A few polish her shoes, some comb her hair, some file her nails etc. There is a room at GMC Towers now called the " Penny Mellor Room". Apparently, Jam Tarts are circulated for free in memory of Penny.

Yesterday's Panorama showed the second phase of GMC dartboarding. The corrupt nature of the anti msbp campaigners were finally shown in Technicolor. Sharon Payne admitted to being a pain in the back side. It was a great shame the rest of her Adams Family were not there to join the party. Mandy Morris' superjumbo complaining habits following extensive tutorials from Mellor were superbly executed. Anyone would think the three had fine turned their complaining habits. This include - multiplicity of complaints against any known doctor, multilateral complaints to Trusts and any other organisations.

Panorama showed us that the David Southall's Border Collie had more intelligence than the rest of the anti msbp crowd. Indeed, the Border Collie showed that she could think in a straight line unlike arch bad guy Paul Philip. We had no idea that Wendy Savage was still alive after her service to the GMC. Doing her best impression of a Skeleton, Wendy narrated the skeletons in the GMC's closet. Wendy though is not averse to making false allegations against committee members herself.

It is a great shame that no one admitted to the meeting between the GMC and the anti msbp group in 2005. Paul Philip who crept out of his gold lined snake box has remained tight lipped about this cosy chatty meeting. This is the meeting that saw the GMC filter all the group's complaints through Stream 1 no matter how bizarre they were. Indeed, evidence on this website quotes Penny Mellor manufacturing a complaint against David Southall through a mother. Were other complaints manufactured and embellished? Penny Mellor appears to be good at cake making and icing. She uses quite a lot of icing to develop a simple issue into a flamboyant one. She is the modern day NVQ qualifier in complaining - a master at her art. Shame she doesn't have that qualification. We are surprised that she doesn't run that course for amateur complainers. You too can be a serial complainer like Penny Mellor. But first you have to smoke a fag, scream like a witch and serially attach yourself to an MP with duck tape.

Penny Mellor's smoking habits were there for all to see on Panorama last night. A scene showing her good side covered in cig smoke was captured artistically in dim lights. Indeed, there is now only one smoking complainant for the GMC and true to form she has made a complaint to Ofcom about Panorama. Every other legitimate complaint made by any other person is screened out.