Doctors involved at Winterbourne View hospital may face GMC hearing

Doctors who had dealings with a residential hospital for vulnerable adults that was the subject of a recent high profile TV exposé may face disciplinary action before the General Medical Council (GMC), MPs have been told.

Possible action was mentioned during an evidence session of the parliamentary health select committee on 14 June at which MPs quizzed medical and nursing regulators as part of their inquiry into regulatory bodies.

The committee asked about the recent high profile case of alleged abuse at Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol, as highlighted in the BBC’s Panorama programme on 31 May (BMJ 2011;342:d3482, published 3 June 2011).

Committee chair Stephen Dorrell, Conservative MP for Charnwood, said: “There must …