Kneejerk reaction?

That the GMC's proposals are in response to the well publicised tragic events in Bristol is, of course, acknowledged. Despite that, it is evident that they have not been received with acclaim by the medical profession, as the professional press makes clear. Indeed, some of the reservations expressed are of such a nature as to merit a wider readership. As Dr Arindam Rahman pointed out in a recent letter to Doctor, 'no other profession, not accountants, solicitors, judges, barristers, police, MPs or the Prime Minister is subjected to revalidation'. What doctors needed in his view was good continuing education. It did no good to talk down one's own profession. 'This can only make the doctors demoralised and disheartened which can't be good for anybody - least of all the patients'. Consultant ENT surgeon Carl Watson pursued the same theme in Hospital Doctor. No other profession would tolerate the sort of measures the GMC was proposing. They were a panic measure - the result of a well orchestrated political campaign to discredit the profession. 'The argument that failure to bring in tighter self-regulation would result in Government interference can be likened to a man jumping into the river for fear of being pushed.'