SCHEDULE
THE GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (FITNESS TO PRACTISE) RULES 2004
PART 1
Preliminaries
Citation and commencement
These Rules may be cited as the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004, and shall come into force on 1st November 2004.
Interpretation
In these Rules—
“the Act” means the Medical Act 1983;
“allegation” means an allegation that the fitness to practise of a practitioner is impaired and includes an allegation treated as arising by virtue of section 35CC(3) of the Act and an allegation relating to a person whose registration is suspended;
“application” means, in Part 6 of these Rules, an application to restore a person’s name to the register, and the applicant shall be construed accordingly;
“assessment report” means a report prepared following the assessment of a practitioner’s performance or health in accordance with Schedule 1 or 2;
“Assessment Team” means a team of three or more performance assessors appointed by the Registrar in order to carry out the assessment of a practitioner’s performance in accordance with Schedule 1
“Case Examiner” means a medical or lay officer of the General Council appointed by the Registrar for the purposes of exercising the functions of the Committee, and “Case Examiners” means the medical and lay Case Examiners to whom an allegation is referred under rule 4(2) or 5(2) and includes any replacement Case Examiner appointed by the Registrar;
“Case Manager” means a legally qualified person appointed by the Registrar for the purposes of rule 16;
“the Committee” means the Investigation Committee;
“FTP Panel” means a Fitness to Practise Panel constituted under rules made under paragraph 19E of Schedule 1 to the Act;
“interim order” means an order made in accordance with section 41A of the Act (and includes an order made in accordance with section 41A and 41B of the Act prior to the coming into force of articles 13 and 14 of the Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) Order 2002);
“Interim Orders Panel” means an Interim Orders Panel constituted under paragraph 19A of Schedule 1 to the Act;
“lay”, in relation to any person, means a person who is neither a registered medical practitioner nor a holder of any qualification registrable under the Act;
“Legal Assessor” means a person appointed under paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to the Act;
“medical”, in relation to any person, means a registered medical practitioner;
“medical examiner” means a registered medical practitioner appointed by the Registrar under rule 3(1)(b) for the purposes of carrying out health assessments in accordance with Schedule 2;
“Panel” means a FTP Panel or an Interim Orders Panel;
“panellist” means a person sitting on the Committee or a Panel;
“party” means the practitioner or the General Council (or their representatives), and references to “the parties” shall be construed accordingly;
“performance assessor” means a person appointed by the Registrar under rule 3(1)(a) for the purposes of carrying out performance assessments in accordance with Schedule 1;
“practitioner” means a person holding full, provisional or limited registration under the Act (including any person whose registration is suspended) who is the subject of an allegation or in respect of whom a direction has been made under section 35D of the Act;
“the Presenting Officer” means the representative of the General Council instructed by the Registrar to present the case on behalf of the General Council at any hearing before a Panel or the Committee, and may include solicitor or counsel;
“the President” means the President of the General Council;
“private” means in the presence of the parties and their representatives but in the absence of the wider public;
“regulatory body” shall be construed in accordance with section 35C(9) of the Act;
“specialist health adviser” means a registered medical practitioner appointed by the Registrar under rule 3(2) for the purposes of advising a FTP Panel in relation to medical issues regarding a practitioner’s health;
“specialist performance adviser” means a registered medical practitioner appointed by the Registrar under rule 3(2) for the purposes of advising a FTP Panel in relation to medical issues regarding a practitioner’s performance;
“specialty” shall be construed to include general medical practice; and
“warning” means a warning under section 35C(6) or section 35D(3)of the Act.
Appointment of panels of advisers, assessors and examiners
The Registrar may appoint—
a panel of medical and lay performance assessors for the purposes of carrying out performance assessments in accordance with Schedule 1; and
a panel of medical examiners for the purposes of carrying out health assessments in accordance with Schedule 2.
The Registrar may appoint—
a panel of specialist health advisers for the purposes of advising a FTP Panel in relation to medical issues regarding a practitioner’s health which may arise at a hearing before the FTP Panel; and
a panel of specialist performance advisers for the purposes of advising a FTP Panel in relation to medical issues regarding a practitioner’s performance which may arise at a hearing before the FTP Panel.
Members of the General Council shall not be eligible for appointment to a panel under paragraph (1) or (2).
In selecting a specialist health adviser in relation to a particular case, the Registrar—
shall have regard to the physical or mental condition which is alleged to impair the practitionerØs fitness to practise; and
shall not select a person who has previously been selected to act as a medical examiner in relation to that case.
In selecting a specialist performance adviser in relation to a particular case, the Registrar—
shall have regard to the specialty to which the allegation relates; and
shall not select a person who has previously been selected to act as a member of an Assessment Team in relation to that case.
The advice of a specialist health adviser or a specialist performance adviser shall be given or repeated in the presence of the parties in attendance at the hearing.
PART 2
Investigation of allegations
Initial consideration and referral of allegations
An allegation shall initially be considered by the Registrar.
Subject to paragraph (5) and rule 5, where the Registrar considers that the allegation falls within section 35C(2) of the Act, he shall refer the matter to a medical and a lay Case Examiner for consideration under rule 8.
Where—
the Registrar considers that an allegation does not fall within section 35C(2) of the Act; or
in the case of an allegation falling within paragraph (5), the Registrar does not consider it to be in the public interest for the allegation to proceed,
he shall notify the practitioner and the maker of the allegation (if any) accordingly.
The Registrar may, before deciding whether to refer an allegation, carry out any investigations as in his opinion are appropriate to the consideration of—
whether or not the allegation falls within section 35C(2) of the Act; or
the practitioner’s fitness to practise.
No allegation shall proceed further if, at the time it is first made or first comes to the attention of the General Council, more than five years have elapsed since the most recent events giving rise to the allegation, unless the Registrar considers that it is in the public interest, in the exceptional circumstances of the case, for it to proceed.
Functions of the Registrar in relation to cautions, convictions and determinations
Subject to rule 4(5), the Registrar shall refer an allegation falling within section 35C(2)(c) of the Act relating to a conviction resulting in the imposition of a custodial sentence, whether immediate or suspended, directly to a FTP Panel.
Subject to rule 4(5), the Registrar shall refer any other allegation falling within section 35C(2)(c) or (e) of the Act directly to a FTP Panel, unless he is of the opinion that it ought to be referred to a medical and a lay Case Examiner for consideration under rule 8.
Referral to Interim Orders Panel
If, at any stage, the Registrar is of the opinion that an Interim Orders Panel should consider making an interim order in relation to a practitioner, he shall refer the allegation to an Interim Orders Panel accordingly.
Investigation of allegations
As soon as is reasonably practicable after referral of an allegation for consideration under rule 8, the Registrar shall write to the practitioner—
informing him of the allegation and stating the matters which appear to raise a question as to whether his fitness to practise is impaired;
providing him with copies of any documents received by the General Council in support of the...
