Doctors in call for new independent regulator

THE leader of the British Medical Association (BMA) has called for a new independent regulator, claiming the existing one is “failing to to protect patients and support doctors”.

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Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of council at the BMA, is expected to warn that the General Medical Council (GMC), the current regulator for doctors and some other medical professionals, has become an "abject failure" in his speech at the doctors' union's annual meeting in Liverpool on Monday.

The professional body for doctors has long criticised the watchdog over its use of the term “medical professionals” to describe all those it regulates - doctors as well as physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) - arguing that this blurs the lines between doctors and non-doctors.