A new disciplinary tribunal for doctors in the United Kingdom is likely to be set up by the General Medical Council if the government, as expected, decides to kill off the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA) before its planned start next April.

The new independent body was set to take over the GMC’s adjudication role from next spring, following a recommendation by the Shipman inquiry, chaired by the appeal court judge Janet Smith. But the new coalition government put the move on hold as part of its spending cuts programme (BMJ 2010;341:c4063, 27 Jul, doi:10.1136/bmj.c4063), and last month the Department of Health for England issued a consultation paper questioning the need for a new body.

In its response …