The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) welcomes the Health Select Committee’s reports on the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The RCP agrees that medical regulators must show leadership to give doctors and nurses the confidence to report instances of sub-standard care. The environment in which health professionals work must also be supportive of this. The RCP wants to break down traditional professional boundaries regarding raising concerns; between them doctors and nurses must feel confident highlighting concerns about all standards.
Sir Richard Thompson, president of the RCP said:
The RCP has an important role to play in supporting health professionals to raise concerns they have about poor quality of care. We are facilitating regional discussions between multi-disciplinary groups from various hospitals that aim to highlight poor care and identify ways to improve standards. We have suggested that the raising of concerns should be part of the annual appraisal of doctors. We are also working with the Royal College of Nursing and the Nursing and Midwifery Council to clarify that grey area of professional accountability for patient care between doctors and nurses.
For further information, please contact Lisa Cunningham, Public Affairs Manager, on +44 (0)20 3075 1468 / 07990 745610, or email Lisa.cunningham@rcplondon.ac.uk