New suspension procedures aim to cut NHS disciplinary bill
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《英国医生杂志》
Disciplinary procedures for NHS doctors and dentists are being speeded up in a bid to cut the multimillion pound salary bill for suspended staff.
Under new rules that come into effect on 1 June, cases of suspension from NHS posts in England will have to be resolved in 13 weeks—19 weeks less than the present target time of 32 weeks. In addition, the right of consultants on the verge of being sacked to appeal to the health secretary will be abolished.
Allowing consultants to make an extra appeal to the health secretary has meant that many cases in the past have taken a further eight months to be resolved.
Delaying disciplinary cases this way costs ￡40m ($76m; 58m) a year, according to a Public Accounts Committee report published last year ( BMJ 2004;329: 1204, 20 Nov).
Under the new framework, which has been agreed with the British Medical Association, the distinction between personal and professional misconduct will no longer be made. As a consequence NHS doctors and dentists will be disciplined under the same rules as other NHS staff.
The framework also introduces a period of assessment of doctors against whom complaints of misconduct are made. During this period NHS trusts can make use of the services of the National Clinical Assessment Authority, which was set up in 2001 to support trusts faced with concerns over employees' performance. Doctors will go before a panel set up to hear capability cases only if they refuse the measures suggested by the authority or the measures fail.
Commenting on the new rules, Dr Alan Russell, deputy chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said: "We think the new process offers hospital doctors, employers, and patients a fair deal. We have tried to strike a balance between the need to ensure that concerns are dealt with quickly and making sure that doctors get a fair hearing. Having an independent medical member on the panel for both professional conduct and capability hearings, and an independent majority on appeals panels, will help to ensure that happens."(Zosia Kmietowicz)
Under new rules that come into effect on 1 June, cases of suspension from NHS posts in England will have to be resolved in 13 weeks—19 weeks less than the present target time of 32 weeks. In addition, the right of consultants on the verge of being sacked to appeal to the health secretary will be abolished.
Allowing consultants to make an extra appeal to the health secretary has meant that many cases in the past have taken a further eight months to be resolved.
Delaying disciplinary cases this way costs ￡40m ($76m; 58m) a year, according to a Public Accounts Committee report published last year ( BMJ 2004;329: 1204, 20 Nov).
Under the new framework, which has been agreed with the British Medical Association, the distinction between personal and professional misconduct will no longer be made. As a consequence NHS doctors and dentists will be disciplined under the same rules as other NHS staff.
The framework also introduces a period of assessment of doctors against whom complaints of misconduct are made. During this period NHS trusts can make use of the services of the National Clinical Assessment Authority, which was set up in 2001 to support trusts faced with concerns over employees' performance. Doctors will go before a panel set up to hear capability cases only if they refuse the measures suggested by the authority or the measures fail.
Commenting on the new rules, Dr Alan Russell, deputy chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said: "We think the new process offers hospital doctors, employers, and patients a fair deal. We have tried to strike a balance between the need to ensure that concerns are dealt with quickly and making sure that doctors get a fair hearing. Having an independent medical member on the panel for both professional conduct and capability hearings, and an independent majority on appeals panels, will help to ensure that happens."(Zosia Kmietowicz)