The GMC: expediency before principle: Doctors and patients have shared interests

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7485.253-a

BMJ 2005;330:253 (29 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7485.253-a

Letter

The GMC: expediency before principle

Doctors and patients have shared interests

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Smith and Dyer wrote concise and lucid expositionsof the latest report on the GMC.^1
2 Although it is crucial thatthe public is happy with the way that the profession regulatesitself, I am troubled by the assumption in the conclusions ofthe report that protecting the interests of doctors and protectingthe interests of patients are mutually exclusive.

Many a management guru has said that if you want to provideexcellent customer care, you should treat your staff in thesame way as you would like them to treat your most valued customer.Taken to its logical conclusion, patients can presumably lookforward to being treated as incompetent until proved otherwise,at best, and as potential psychopaths at worst.

As someone who regularly supports and counsels doctors, I weepfor the vast majority who work with competence and enormouscommitment, often to the detriment of their health . . . [Full text of this article]

Anita M Houghton, careers counsellor and coach

London SE3 0QR anita.houghton@btinternet.com