Reports > The Fifth Report > CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Serious Professional Misconduct and Seriously Deficient Performance: Problems of Definition >
Introduction
|
17.1 |
In Chapter 15, I explained that the General Medical Council (GMC) conduct or disciplinary procedures were, for many years, founded on the issue of whether the doctor concerned had been guilty of serious professional misconduct (SPM). The meaning of that phrase had been defined in general terms from time to time. However, the Inquiry was told that opinions about what types of conduct amounted to SPM varied considerably and that the debate between eminent members of the medical profession as to whether the conduct of a doctor in a particular case amounted to SPM could become both heated and emotional. As SPM was the basis of the conduct procedures, it is apparent that, if views about what amounted to SPM differed, then the standards that were applied by the GMC must have been inconsistent and its decisions unfair to some doctors. The corollary of that unfairness is that some decisions on misconduct must have been too lenient and may have failed to provide adequate protection for patients and the public. It is of vital importance that any disciplinary process should be based upon standards that can be applied consistently in all cases. |
|
17.2 |
The GMC performance procedures, which were introduced in 1997, were founded on the issue of whether the professional performance of the doctor in question had been ‘seriously deficient’. Although the history of cases under the performance procedures was much shorter than that of cases under the conduct procedures, it appears that there were difficulties with the definition and recognition of seriously deficient performance (SDP), as there were with SPM. The absence of any clear definition of, and standards for, SDP gave rise to the same problems as I outlined above. These problems were of such importance that I propose to devote this Chapter to a discussion of them and their histories. |
|
17.3 |
I shall not discuss the concept of serious impairment of fitness to practise by reason of a physical or mental condition, which was the foundation of the GMC health procedures, as this does not appear to have given rise to similar difficulties. |
|
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Serious Professional Misconduct and Seriously Deficient Performance: Problems of Definition
