Dear Editor
I welcome the excellent article by Iqbal Singh. However, I have a few reservations.
Firstly, there appears to be an obsession with cases where the GMC has carried out investigations and proceedings, where it should not have done so. What about the reverse, where the GMC was flawed in not carrying out investigations and proceedings when it should have done so?
Secondly, there needs to be proper training and accountability of doctors in management roles, and this did not come out in the Iqbal and Singh review.
Thirdly, all staff at the GMC who play a key role in investigations and proceedings should undergo annual training in cognitive bias that is delivered by an external agency.
Fourthly, there also appears to be an obsession with making sure that referrals of BME doctors to the GMC/MPTS are comparable to those of white doctors. It may well be the fact that BME doctors have a higher incidence of limitations than non-BME doctors, and if that is the case we should accept this fact, and then take steps to improve the limitations. The obsession should be with having the highest standards of patient care and staff wellbeing, and not whether BME doctors are referred at the same rate as white doctors to the GMC/MPTS.
Re: Two years on from the Singh and Forde review, the GMC is making progress