Clause 27 - Reference of disciplinary cases
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
10:00 am
Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury, Conservative)
I am concerned about double jeopardy. I think that we have before us the suggestion that professionals will be tried by their regulatory bodies but then, if that decision is not approved of because they are found innocent or because the decision is unduly lenient—it is heavily weighted—there is the option of them being tried by the High Court. Clearly, that increases the chance of a decision being made against them.
I cite the spectacle of Mr. Dhasmana, whom many will remember as the third man in the Bristol royal infirmary scandal. Having been found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the GMC, and having quite rightly had limitations placed upon his practice, he was retried within hours by the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), who said on ''Newsnight'' that he thought that the GMC had got it wrong and that Mr. Dhasmana should be struck off. That is not for me to judge, but the right hon. Gentleman felt that he was in a position to do so, thereby rubbishing eight months of serious consideration by the GMC and about £2 million of its resources in dealing with this incredibly complex and sensitive matter. I am worried that the council might act similarly. As it is weighted with ministerial appointees, it might be tempted to act in a way that was politically correct or to play to the gallery, thereby laying waste months and months of painstaking and expert consideration of a particular case.
How does the council intend to scrutinise such matters? I assume that it will not involve itself with preliminary proceedings, but we do not know that. Will they be considered in a sub-committee? If so, how will it be constituted? We need more detail about the scrutiny of cases of alleged professional misconduct.
My chief concern is that we have not adequately recognised the expertise of regulatory bodies and the painstaking way in which they dissect cases over many months. Many Labour Members still have in the back of their minds the notion that regulatory bodies are driven by health professions in their own interests. I hark back to a point that was made earlier in our deliberations. We tend to find—anecdotally, I admit—that lay members tend to be less censorious than the professionals sitting on regulatory bodies. I am worried that those bodies will not be given due recognition and that there will be a temptation for the council to refer cases to the High Court. We have received limited guidance about exactly what cases will be referred. Will they be cases of genuine concern or simply those that grab the attention of the media?