The GMC has issued additional guidance to support case handlers in considering the specific Covid-19 circumstances when assessing a complaint against a doctor.
Commenting, Dr Rob Hendry, Medical Director at Medical Protection said:
“As this pandemic evolves, so do the challenges around resources and resilience. Doctors remain under severe pressure and continue to face difficult decisions on how limited resources are allocated, which may increase the prospect of a poor outcome for some patients and leave doctors vulnerable to medicolegal disputes relating to situations out of their control.
“Since the start of the pandemic we have called on the regulator to reassure doctors so they know that any complaints in relation to treatment provided during this time will be dealt with proportionately and fairly, with the extraordinary context taken into account. The additional GMC guidance, aimed to support case handlers in considering the specific Covid-19 related circumstances, is therefore a welcome step. We will continue to monitor this closely to see how the guidance is being implemented.”
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GMC notice on the additional guidance: https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/news-archive/supporting-doctors-during-the-pandemic
The additional guidance (PDF): https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/dc13028-guidance-for-decision-makers-on-covid-19--external-version-_pdf-83985701.pdf
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About Medical Protection
Medical Protection is a trading name of The Medical Protection Society Limited (“MPS”). MPS is the world’s leading protection organisation for doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals. We protect and support the professional interests of more than 300,000 members around the world.
Membership provides access to expert advice and support and can also provide, depending on the type of membership required, the right to request indemnity for any complaints or claims arising from professional practice.
Our in-house experts assist with the wide range of legal and ethical problems that arise from professional practice. This can include clinical negligence claims, complaints, medical and dental council inquiries, legal and ethical dilemmas, disciplinary procedures, inquests and fatal accident inquiries.
Our philosophy is to support safe practice in medicine and dentistry by helping to avert problems in the first place. We do this by promoting risk management through our workshops, E-learning, clinical risk assessments, publications, conferences, lectures and presentations. MPS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MPS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.