Alternatives to Litigation: The GMC and other Professional Bodies

• Introduction
• The GMC and other Professional Bodies
  • GMC Investigations
  • Asking the GMC to Investigate your Doctor
  • How Can Michelmores Help?
  • Other Professional Bodies
  • Where Can I Get More Information?
• NHS Complaints
• Patient Advocacy: PALS, ICAS, etc.
• Public Inquiries
• Regulatory Bodies

Talk to Us Now

• 0800 0730140
• Request a call back
• Name:

  Phone number:

  Email:

  Summary of enquiry:
• Email Us Now

Print this page Forward to a friend, colleague or adviser

How Can Michelmores Help?

We are very happy to provide informal advice regarding any approach to the GMC you are considering.

We can also assist with putting together a complaint, and facilitate your dealings with the GMC.  Please note, however, that public funding ("Legal Aid") is not available for this kind of work so, if you ask us to undertake formal work on your behalf, you will probably have to meet the costs of such work yourself.

In cases where we are running a litigation claim - i.e. suing for compensation ("damages") for negligence - we may be able to assist the GMC's investigation by providing information about your case, and sharing important documentation with the GMC's solicitors.

On the whole, however, we are limited as to direct involvement in any investigation that the GMC launches.  As explained above, the GMC has its own lawyers that investigate and bring cases against doctors, and complainants do not have the right to demand that they are represented by lawyers of their own choice.

Finally, if the GMC are investigating a case that you have brought to their attention, and you believe that they are not complying with their own rules about your involvement and your rights, it may be possible to have the conduct of the case reviewed by the High Court.  This is a complicated process that will only be appropriate in exceptional cases, but we can discuss your options with you and, if there are really are grounds to have the GMC's conduct of your case reviewed, we can help.

Laurence Vick, who is head of the department, was involved in one of the GMC's most famous cases: the serious professional misconduct proceedings against the Bristol Heart doctors.  As you may know, this case resulted in two of the doctors - James Wisheart and John Roylance - being removed from the register of licensed practitioners ("struck off"), and the third - Janardan Dhasmana - being banned from operating on children for a period of 4 years.  Laurence helped to formulate some of the Bristol parents' complaints to the GMC, and was involved in lengthy discussions with the GMC's lawyers about documentation from the Bristol unit.  He also launched a High Court challenge to the narrow remit of the GMC's Inquiry.