BMA calls for new independent medical regulator

He will say it is time for, ‘an independent regulator that once again commands the confidence of the profession.’

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.

PAs are graduates – usually with a health or life sciences degree – who have undertaken two years of postgraduate training and support the work of doctors, while AAs work as part of the anaesthesia and wider surgical team.

In April, the BMA lost its High Court challenge over the medical regulator’s approach towards associate professions, after which the GMC said it was pleased the court had recognised its single set of standards for all three professions as “logical and lawful”.

But the dispute has continued, with Professor Banfield expected to say today that the GMC’s approach to regulating PAs has led to an “incessant and unsafe blurring of professional boundaries that threaten the very foundations of practising medicine, what it means to be a doctor”.

The union will call for a new medical regulator which regulates doctors alone, and has a statutory duty to protect the public.

Professor Banfield will say doctors and patients need a regulator that “protects patients, treats doctors fairly … and puts them at the heart of its decision-making and supports high quality medical education across a whole career”.

The BMA said it surveyed more than 1,400 doctors, of whom 82.2 per cent would support the creation of a new watchdog solely focused on doctors.

It also found that more than 60 per cent of doctors think that the GMC is failing to keep patients safe and fulfil its primary function of protecting the public.

Professor Banfield is also set to urge the Government to address doctor unemployment levels in its upcoming 10-year plan for the NHS, and warn Health Secretary Wes Streeting that resident doctors being balloted on strike action want pay deals to be honoured.

He will say Mr Streeting “must pay the cost for the medical expertise [he] needs, because it costs infinitely more not to”.

The BMA chief is also expected to discuss the Association’s position of neutrality on assisted dying and its work to help bring in the ban on single-use vapes.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “This Government is committed to working hand-in-hand with doctors and healthcare professionals to deliver the reform our NHS needs.

“We have already announced a programme to modernise the regulation of healthcare professionals across the UK, creating a system that better protects patients and supports our medical workforce through our Plan for Change.”