Dear Editor
An expert examination concludes what is visible to all: the GMC is accountable to no organisation. The PSA are helpless bystanders, Parliament too amorphous an organisation with too many distractions and doctors simply the hapless victims. Without accountability, there can be no expectation of ethical practice, effective learning or challenge to inevitable human biases.
Some can enjoy the words and funds of the reports, consultations and statistical change. All decent people understand that one career or life taken is one too many, yet nothing changes. We are all vulnerable, as are our families, our colleagues and our patients. Put more simply, this is nobody’s fault, but it is corruption. Let us be wary of what we wish for. No organisation populated by humans is immune to error and bias. We need a system with accountability built in, with an organisation with genuine expertise in medical ethics, systems safety and occupational health and please, not at all like the CQC.
Re: Doctors are accountable to the GMC, but who is the GMC accountable to?