Following a BMA letter, the government is now to reconsult on the GMC’s right to appeal decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. 

The government has changed its approach to a consultation, as it attempts to retain the General Medical Council (GMC)’s right to appeal decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), the tribunal service for doctors, physician associates and anaesthesia associates. 

The British Medical Association (BMA) began legal action to challenge the basis of the change last month. 

When the GMC investigates a doctor, it is the MPTS that hears the case and decides whether the doctor is fit to practise and what, if any, sanction they should face.

At the moment, the GMC has the right to appeal decisions made by the MPTS. The BMA position has been that this undermines doctors’ trust in the regulator. It is a position that was backed by the Williams Review in 2018. It recommended that the GMC’s right to appeal be removed, and successive governments have agreed to do so. This was also the recommendation of the independent Hamilton Review in 2019, which was commissioned by the GMC.

Earlier this year, in March, the government launched a consultation on reforming the GMC, which proposed not only retaining the GMC’s right to appeal, but also expanding that right to interim decisions. 

Following a letter before action sent to the secretary of state for health and social care, the government has now confirmed that it will re-consult on the issue. 

“This is a win for doctors and patients who will now have a chance to respond to a consultation on the GMC’s right of appeal that presents the arguments fairly. We will continue to oppose the GMC’s existing right of appeal, and the extension of this right to cover interim tribunal determinations,” said BMA council deputy chair Emma Runswick.