Medical examiners will investigate deaths in the NHS and the General Medical Council (GMC) will be stripped of its right to appeal fitness-to-practise decisions, following the conclusion of the rapid review of gross negligence manslaughter cases.
The recommendations arising from the Sir Norman Williams into gross negligence manslaughter in healthcare were reported earlier today. Health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt has accepted them in full.
All deaths that are not referred to the coroner will be subject to a medical examiner’s scrutiny going forward, in a bid to “improve the quality and appropriateness of referrals of deaths to coroners and to increase transparency for the bereaved and offer them an opportunity to raise any concerns”.
In its evidence to the review, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) said it had supported 34 medical members with manslaughter investigations since 2014. According to the union’s submission, there is only one or fewer prosecutions for every 10 investigations, indicating a significant level of over-investigation of doctors.
Responding to the introduction of the new system, British Medical Association (BMA) council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “We welcome the sentiment that there must be a more consistent approach regarding prosecution for gross negligence manslaughter. While we wait to see the impact the roll-out of the medical examiner role, we still believe that the chief coroner should be consulted before any death is referred to the police for a gross negligence manslaughter investigation, and that a more robust, national approach must be adopted to minimise regional variations.”
The GMC will also lose its right to appeal fitness-to-practise decisions under the report’s recommendations. “This will help address mistrust that has emerged between the GMC and the doctors that it regulates,” the report explained.
Nagpaul commented: “The BMA has long-opposed the right of the GMC to appeal fitness-to-practise decisions. We know that doctors going through this process find it stressful enough, in many cases leading to anxiety and depression, without the added worry that any decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service can be overridden by the GMC taking the case to a higher c