Doctors are accountable to the GMC, but who is the GMC accountable to? (BMJ, 4 November 2022)

Summary

The General Medical Council (GMC) makes it clear that doctors in the United Kingdom are “personally accountable for [their] professional practice and must always be prepared to justify [their] decisions and actions.” It expects them to comply with a set of obligations, periodically updated, in a series of domains including safety and quality, skills and performance, and maintaining trust. But who is the GMC accountable to? 

Fundamental questions need to be asked about who health regulators are accountable to, say Martin McKee and Scott L Greer in this BMJ opinion piece.