Re: BMA annual meeting: GMC should be funded by public not doctors, says BMA
A major achievement of the New South Wales Medical Board in the late 1980s was to have its funding removed from the whims of government budgeting by switching to funding by all registered doctors.
This enabled the Board to significantly improve its roles in enquiring into disciplinary issues (but without the power to strike off – that was reserved for the Medical Tribunal of the District Court), to initiate a program of care for impaired doctors and medical students, to initiate enquiries into doctors' overall competence after a number of complaints had been made against them, to develop guidelines for handling HIV-infected patients and so on,
None of these costly advances would have been likely had the Medical Board remained dependent on funding by the state government, always struggling to balance its budget.
That said, the GMC should not have the power to strike doctors off, depriving a citizen of his or her livelihood. That should, as in New South Wales, be the responsibility of the courts.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
28 June 2016
Peter C Arnold
Formerly Deputy President New South Wales Medical Board
Rapid Response:
Re: BMA annual meeting: GMC should be funded by public not doctors, says BMA
A major achievement of the New South Wales Medical Board in the late 1980s was to have its funding removed from the whims of government budgeting by switching to funding by all registered doctors.
This enabled the Board to significantly improve its roles in enquiring into disciplinary issues (but without the power to strike off – that was reserved for the Medical Tribunal of the District Court), to initiate a program of care for impaired doctors and medical students, to initiate enquiries into doctors' overall competence after a number of complaints had been made against them, to develop guidelines for handling HIV-infected patients and so on,
None of these costly advances would have been likely had the Medical Board remained dependent on funding by the state government, always struggling to balance its budget.
That said, the GMC should not have the power to strike doctors off, depriving a citizen of his or her livelihood. That should, as in New South Wales, be the responsibility of the courts.
Competing interests: No competing interests