TY - JOUR T1 - The General Medical Council: an inside view JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 877 LP - 877 VL - 54 IS - 508 AU - Brian Keighley Y1 - 2004/11/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/54/508/877.abstract N2 - The General Medical Council (GMC) is in a unique position within a triangle. At its vertices are: a government, in whose name doctors are regulated, that often uses the GMC as a whipping boy; a general public that often perceives it as a ‘doctor's club’; and a resentful profession that provides its funding but often believes it is in thrall to political correctness. Can the fact that all three seem dissatisfied mean that we are actually getting some things right?Three issues currently engage the profession: Shipman, revalidation, and double jeopardy.Harold Shipman was convicted of drug-related offences in the 1970s. There were no health procedures then, and the only options for the GMC were to allow continued unrestricted practice or to erase. Given positive medical reports, and support from his new employer, he was not struck off. Thereafter the GMC had no mechanism to maintain scrutiny of him.Whatever view is taken of the GMC through the retrospectoscope, the Registrar of Deaths, the Greater Manchester Police, the Coroner, professional … ER -