Consumer advocate says GMC changes still don't go far enough
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
Reforms inside the General Medical Council have not gone far enough to win back public support for self regulation among doctors, a consumers?champion said last week.
More still needs to be done to engage patients in understanding how doctors are regulated and how to complain if things go wrong and to help people access the credentials of who is treating them, said Frances Blunden, principal policy adviser at the Consumers?Association.
At a debate funded by the council on regulation in health care Ms Blunden praised the council for the important improvements it has achieved in recent years in the way it operates. However, she added: 揟here is still a feeling amongst much of the public that the GMC, and its policies and procedures, is about protecting doctors?interests rather than those of the public and that it is run by doctors.?/p>
Ms Blunden called for a new model of professional regulation that entails proper accountability, independence, and integration of all healthcare professionals in the NHS and the private sector. 揟here should be co-regulation, with equal representation of all stakeholder interests under the leadership of a lay chair,?she argued.
Road shows to help people understand just how the GMC works and what information is available about the doctors they see would help make the council less daunting to the public, she said.
揟he council is no longer the cosy club it was, but it is still a club that needs to look into its inner recesses,?concluded Ms Blunden.
Graeme Catto, president of the GMC, welcomed the idea of greater integration across the healthcare professions. But with 1.5 million healthcare workers the task was an enormous one. 揑t is difficult enough regulating 200 000 doctors,?he said.
He argued that the recent changes inside the council have transformed the regulation of doctors into a world class system.
揑 don抰 believe in self regulating professions,?he said. 揃ut I do believe in professionally led regulation: regulation that protects patients by fostering the professionalism of doctors and by involving patients and the public. In countries where they do not follow this model, patients?interests suffer.?/p>
Measures such as revalidation were helping the council become more strategic and proactive rather than reacting when things go wrong, he said.
He added, 揟his model of regulation梬hich parliament endorsed in 2002梚s the right way forward. It is fostering a new model of professionalism in medicine based on clear standards and values and respect for the patients and lifelong learning.
揙f course you could have a mainly lay body which took professional advice and asked it to regulate the profession. I believe you would lose the profession by doing so, but the real losers would be patients. Patients cannot be effective without the full commitment of doctors to values underpinning their work. Those values must be embraced; they cannot be bolted on in a climate of suspicion and alienation.?/p>(London Zosia Kmietovicz)
More still needs to be done to engage patients in understanding how doctors are regulated and how to complain if things go wrong and to help people access the credentials of who is treating them, said Frances Blunden, principal policy adviser at the Consumers?Association.
At a debate funded by the council on regulation in health care Ms Blunden praised the council for the important improvements it has achieved in recent years in the way it operates. However, she added: 揟here is still a feeling amongst much of the public that the GMC, and its policies and procedures, is about protecting doctors?interests rather than those of the public and that it is run by doctors.?/p>
Ms Blunden called for a new model of professional regulation that entails proper accountability, independence, and integration of all healthcare professionals in the NHS and the private sector. 揟here should be co-regulation, with equal representation of all stakeholder interests under the leadership of a lay chair,?she argued.
Road shows to help people understand just how the GMC works and what information is available about the doctors they see would help make the council less daunting to the public, she said.
揟he council is no longer the cosy club it was, but it is still a club that needs to look into its inner recesses,?concluded Ms Blunden.
Graeme Catto, president of the GMC, welcomed the idea of greater integration across the healthcare professions. But with 1.5 million healthcare workers the task was an enormous one. 揑t is difficult enough regulating 200 000 doctors,?he said.
He argued that the recent changes inside the council have transformed the regulation of doctors into a world class system.
揑 don抰 believe in self regulating professions,?he said. 揃ut I do believe in professionally led regulation: regulation that protects patients by fostering the professionalism of doctors and by involving patients and the public. In countries where they do not follow this model, patients?interests suffer.?/p>
Measures such as revalidation were helping the council become more strategic and proactive rather than reacting when things go wrong, he said.
He added, 揟his model of regulation梬hich parliament endorsed in 2002梚s the right way forward. It is fostering a new model of professionalism in medicine based on clear standards and values and respect for the patients and lifelong learning.
揙f course you could have a mainly lay body which took professional advice and asked it to regulate the profession. I believe you would lose the profession by doing so, but the real losers would be patients. Patients cannot be effective without the full commitment of doctors to values underpinning their work. Those values must be embraced; they cannot be bolted on in a climate of suspicion and alienation.?/p>(London Zosia Kmietovicz)