The General Medical Council (Amendments to Miscellaneous Rules and Regulations) Order of Council 2015

(9) Where, pursuant to section 35C(8) (functions of the Investigation Committee), a referral has been made to the MPTS for them to arrange for an Interim Orders Tribunal or a Medical Practitioners Tribunal to consider whether to make an interim order under section 41A (interim orders) in relation to the applicant, the Registrar may decide to take no further action in relation to the application until the decision of the tribunal and the outcome of any application to the relevant court under section 41A(10) is known.

• (5) In regulation 8 (restoration for the purposes of section 41(7), for “Fitness to Practise Panel” substitute “Medical Practitioners Tribunal”.

Amendment of the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) (Disqualifying Decisions and Determinations by Regulatory Bodies) Procedure Rules 2004

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• (1) The General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) (Disqualifying Decisions and Determinations by Regulatory Bodies) Procedure Rules 2004¹⁹ are amended as follows.

• (2) In rule 2 (interpretation)—

• (a) omit the definitions of “FTP Panel” and “the Presenting Officer”;

• (b) at the appropriate place in the alphabetical order, insert—

• “Medical Practitioners Tribunal” means a Medical Practitioners Tribunal constituted under rules made under paragraph 19G of Schedule 1 to the Act;
• “MPTS” means the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service constituted under rules made under paragraph 19F of Schedule 1 to the Act;
• “representative for the GMC” means a barrister, solicitor or other legal representative instructed by the Registrar to present the case on behalf of the General Council at any hearing before a Tribunal or Committee;

• (3) In rule 3 (referral of cases), for “for consideration by a FTP Panel” substitute “to the MPTS for them to arrange for it to be considered by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal”.

• (4) For rules 4 to 6 (notice of hearing, procedure before FTP Panel and general respectively), substitute—

(4) Where a matter has been referred to the MPTS for them to arrange for it to be considered by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal under rule 3, the MPTS shall give no less than 28 days notice of the hearing to the practitioner— (a) specifying the date, time and venue of the hearing; (b) informing him of his right to attend the hearing and to be represented at the hearing in accordance with rule 33 of the Fitness to Practise Rules; (c) informing him of the power of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal to proceed in his absence under rule 31 of the Fitness to Practise Rules; and (d) informing him of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal’s powers of disposal under section 44(5) of the Act. (5) Where a matter has been referred to the MPTS for them to arrange for it to be considered by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal under rule 3, the order of proceedings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal shall be as follows— (a) the Chairman of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal shall— (i) where the practitioner is present, require the practitioner to confirm his name and GMC Reference Number, (ii) where the practitioner is not present, require the representative for the GMC to confirm the practitioner’s name and GMC Reference Number; (b) the representative for the GMC shall open the case for the General Council and shall present details of the disqualifying decision or determination and the facts upon which it is based and, where the Medical Practitioners Tribunal considers such evidence is desirable to enable it to discharge its functions under this rule may adduce any relevant oral or documentary evidence; (c) the practitioner may open his case and, where the Medical Practitioners Tribunal considers such evidence is desirable to enable it to discharge its functions under this rule, may adduce any relevant oral or documentary evidence and may adduce evidence and call witnesses in support of it; (d) the parties may make such further submissions as the Medical Practitioners Tribunal may allow; (e) the Medical Practitioners Tribunal shall consider and announce its findings of fact; (f) the Medical Practitioners Tribunal may receive further evidence and hear any further submissions from the parties as to whether the Medical Practitioners Tribunal should suspend the practitioner’s registration in accordance with section 44(5) of the Act; (g) the Medical Practitioners Tribunal shall consider and announce its decision as to whether to suspend the practitioner’s registration in accordance with section 44(5) of the Act and shall give reasons for its decision; and (h) in making its decision, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal shall, where appropriate, take into account the practitioner’s previous fitness to practise history with the General Council or any other regulatory body. (6) Where a matter has been referred to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal under rule 3, rules 28 to 31, 33 to 35 and 37 to 42 of the Fitness to Practise Rules shall apply as if— (a) references to a Tribunal were references to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal; (b) references to the Committee were omitted; (c) references to an allegation were references to a matter referred to the MPTS for them to arrange for it to be considered by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal under rule 3; (d) rules 28(1)(b) and 29(1)(a) of the Fitness to Practise Rules were omitted; (e) in rule 34(9), the words “or directed by a Case Manager” were omitted; (f) rule 34(14)(b)(ii) of the Fitness to Practise Rules was omitted; (g) rules 41(3)(a), 41(4) and 41(5) were omitted; and (h) in rule 41(6) of the Fitness to Practise Rules— (i) the words “Subject to paragraph (5)” were omitted, and (ii) the words “paragraph (3)(b)” were substituted for the words “paragraph (3)(a) or (b).

Transitional

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Rule 5 does not apply to an allegation referred to in rule 4(5) of the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004 which is first made or which first comes to the attention of the General Council before the coming into force of these Rules.

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Rule 18(10) does not apply to a direction issued by the Case Manager under rule 16 of the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004 before the coming into force of these Rules.

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The requirements contained in any undertaking taken into account by a Fitness to Practise Panel under rule 17(2)(m) or rule 22(h) of the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004 (“the 2004 Rules”) as in force immediately before the coming into force of these Rules, shall be treated as if they were requirements contained in an undertaking taken into account under rule 17(4) or rule 22(3) of the 2004 Rules²⁰ for the purposes of the amendment to those Rules made by rule 23 of these Rules.

Signed

Richard Tilbrook — Clerk of the Privy Council

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order approves the General Medical Council (Amendments to Miscellaneous Rules and Regulations) Rules 2015 (“the 2015 Rules”) which have been made by the General Medical Council and are contained in the Schedule to the Order.

Part 1 of the 2015 Rules amends the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004 (“the 2004 Rules”) (rules 3 to 51) to give effect to the establishment of the new Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (“MPTS”) and its responsibility to arrange hearings before Medical Practitioner Tribunals (which replace Fitness to Practise Panels) and Interim Orders Tribunals (which replace Interim Orders Panels).

Part 1 also makes amendments to the 2004 Rules which relate to the investigation of fitness to practise cases and proceedings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal and the Interim Orders Tribunal. In particular—

• (a) rule 4 amends rule 3 of the 2004 Rules to remove the power to appoint specialist advisers;

• (b) rule 5 amends rule 4(5) of the 2004 Rules to remove the reference to exceptional circumstances;

• (c) rule 11 amends rule 10 of the 2004 Rules by amending the grounds for referral of a Case Examiner undertakings case to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal to include instances where there has been a deterioration in a practitioner’s knowledge of English;

• (d) rule 17 amends rule 15 of the 2004 Rules to provide that the notice of hearing will be served by the MPTS and the notice of allegation will be served by the Registrar; similar amendments are made to the notice provisions for review, restoration and Interim Orders Tribunal hearings at rules 25 (amending rule 20 of the 2004 Rules), 30 (amending rule 23 of the 2004 Rules) and 33 (amending rule 26 of the 2004 Rules);

• (e) rule 18 makes amendments to the case management provisions in rule 16 of the 2004 Rules, including providing that case management may be carried out by a Chair or the Tribunal itself and that case management decisions are binding on the parties;

• (f) rule 19 inserts new rules 16A and 16B into the 2004 Rules; rule 16A relates to the powers of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal in respect of a failure to comply with rules or directions, enabling a Tribunal to draw adverse inferences, refuse to admit evidence and award costs; rule 16B makes provision for the award of costs and the procedure for the assessment of costs by a Case Manager;

• (g) rule 21 substitutes rule 17 of the 2004 Rules, which provides for proceedings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal and includes new powers for the GMC to agree undertakings with the doctor; it also introduces a new rule 17ZA of the 2004 Rules which makes provision for the procedure at a hearing before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal to deal with non-compliance by a practitioner with a direction to undergo an assessment under Schedule 1, 2 or 3 of the 2004 Rules or a requirement to provide information;

• (h) rule 27 introduces a new rule 21B of the 2004 Rules relating to reviews of directions made by Medical Practitioners Tribunals taking place on the papers, where the parties agree to the terms of a direction;

• (i) rule 28 substitutes rule 22 of the 2004 Rules, which provides for the procedure at a review hearing conducted by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal and includes new powers for the GMC to agree undertakings with the doctor; it also introduces a new rule 22A of the 2004 Rules which makes provision for the procedures at a non-compliance review hearing before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal;

• (j) rule 32 introduces a new 26A of the 2004 Rules which makes similar provisions for reviews of orders made by Interim Orders Tribunals to take place on the papers;

• (k) rule 35 amends rule 29 of the 2004 Rules to allow a Case Manager to direct a further adjournment in a part-heard Medical Practitioners Tribunal hearing and an Investigation Committee member to make such a direction in a part-heard Investigation Committee hearing;

• (l) rule 44 makes amendments to rule 37A of the 2004 Rules, including amending the grounds for referral of a Tribunal undertakings case for review before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal to include where there has been a deterioration of a doctor’s knowledge of English;

• (m) rule 46 of the 2015 Rules substitutes rule 39 of the 2004 Rules and deals with the provision of notes and transcripts of proceedings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal;

• (n) rule 49 amends Schedule 1 of the 2004 Rules regarding procedures relating to the assessment of a practitioner’s performance, including allowing for an Assessment Team or individual performance assessor to carry out a performance assessment.

• (o) Rules 50 and 51 make minor changes to Schedules 2 and 3 of the 2004 Rules regarding the proceedings and procedure relating to assessment of health and knowledge of English.

Part 2 of the 2015 Order makes consequential amendments to—

• (a) the General Medical Council (Restoration following Administrative Erasure) Regulations 2004;

• (b) the General Medical Council (Voluntary Erasure and Restoration following Voluntary Erasure) Regulations 2004; and

• (c) the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) (Disqualifying Decisions and Determinations by Regulatory Bodies) Procedure Rules 2004

to reflect the establishment of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service and the newly constituted Medical Practitioners Tribunals and Interim Orders Tribunals.

In making the 2015 Rules, the General Medical Council has given effect to the overriding objective of paragraph 1(1A) of Schedule 4 to the Medical Act 1983 (c.54). That paragraph requires the General Medical Council, when making rules with respect to the procedure to be followed in proceedings before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal or an Interim Orders Tribunal, or with respect to the procedure to be followed by the Investigation Committee when deciding whether to give a warning under section 35C(6) of the Act, to secure that the Tribunal or Committee (as the case may be) deals with cases fairly and justly.

Footnotes