A RADICAL review of the way doctors are regulated and disciplined has been welcomed by Burnley patient watchdogs.

But Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council (CHC) chairman Frank Clifford said the move by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the wake of the Harold Shipman case should not just be a cosmetic exercise.

"There needs to be root and branch change," he said. "In my view there should be an end to self-regulation.

"Change should not only mean being able to suspend a doctor under investigation, but to institute a clear system of checks to make GPs accountable."

In the wake of Shipman, GMC president Sir Donald Irvine said the council had agreed a review of fitness-to-practise procedures and of the whole structure and culture of the medical profession's regulatory body. The review of disciplinary procedures will report back in the autumn and sweeping changes are expected. The GMC had no powers to suspend Shipman while he was being investigated by police. Sir Donald has called on the government to change the law so that doctors can be suspended while they are being investigated.

The GMC also came under fire when it was revealed that Shipman had a previous conviction for misuse of drugs but neither he nor the GMC were under any obligation to tell his employers.

The huge backlog of cases to come before the GMC's professional conduct committee means that doctors are waiting more than a year for complaints against them to be heard. There are 160 cases pending, Sir Donald admitted today.

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