This is not a bad idea and probably long overdue. It poses another question though, isnt it about time that the MP's had an independant body to oversee their wrong doings?.

Pete Newman, Didcot, England

I am afraid these proposals will achieve the exact opposite of what they say they intend. More bureaucracy, higher costs, longer investigation time and more appeals against judgements.

Peer regulation is not perfect but State regulation much less effective because it is politicised. All regulation is intended as a deterrent and will only work if the regulated consider not being allowed to practice their profession is an unacceptable scenario for them. That requires a healthy mind that accepts the values and standards of that profession and society at large.

The people who break the rules are those who will not or cannot accept. the rules The majority have mental health issues which should be observed and managed much earlier and the clues are there for many to see long before events get to warrant investigation. We need to care for our doctors not wield a bigger stick because it will tick a box for 'doing something'. It will always be too late for those who really matter.

Amanda Bucklow, London, UK

Your top comment is in extrememy poor taste and I sincerely hope is not seen by any of the victim's families.

Bruce, Glasgow, UK

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who guards the guards? Who are the regulators who are going to assess the doctors fitness to practise? A friend of mine was one of the foremost cardiac anaesthetists in this country and he had to be assessed a few years ago by a retired gynaecologist of all people (and had to pay £400 for the privilege!) who clearly had little or no idea of what cardiac anaesthesia entailed.

john Barber, Oxford, UK

I agree that something needs to be done within the system. I have been a "victim" to sexual abuse by a doctor, who was intially suspended and then allowed back to work undersupervision which was not effective. There needs to be a blance between protecting the many good doctors that are out there and also protecting the patients. Changing the system completely will off course be more expensive for us as tax payers. The GMC needs to be reformed and shaken up as do all systems after a period of time that have gone stagnate. But doctors are not gods and cannot escape judgement if this needs to be the case.

Sue, Folkestone, Kent

Afraid R. Taylor is wrong - 'In no other job can you get away with malpractice without having to account for it so why should doctors be any different.' What about the legal profession? Who also police themselves as it happens.

Clive Williams, Cardiff,

It is very disturbing that the 'Blair administration' can create so many laws in all fields to police medics. There has been a huge change in the way doctors work, with a huge adminisrative burden, plus annual appraisals - in the name of Harold Shipman. If Shipman had not happened the Govenment would have had to use some other tactic to bring their version of 'accountability' into the medical profession. It is the same with so much of the legislation being churned out by the Government. Landlords have felt the hand of heavy goverment and all property owners will shortly - in June sellers packs by the back door, which will add the fat part of £1000 to selling your house. Nobody in this country appears to care what this lame duck Government get up to, or are we powerless to act. Even petitions about proposed raod charging on raised 1.8 million signatures. I do know it will cost us all a great deal of money and will not change much in the process.

Clive Williams, Cardiff,

At last the days have come for the demise of G.M.C,I am not surperised.The process of bringing changes to the GMC DiscplInary procedures has taken far too long after SHIPMAN.Whatever system is introduced in its place with mixed membership of legal,professional and majority of lay members,the procedure of adjudication should be based on present criteria of criminal justice and not on the balance of probabilities.I write this for a fair play in a pleural society..As it is there are glaring examples of discrimination in GMC displininary hearings specially against non european doctors.Whatever the GOVT wants to put in place make sure that it is beyond racism and protect both patients and doctors ,making sure that the membership of the new body has a fair prportion of ethenic minority representation.

Dr.S.VENUGOPAL.O.B.E, BIRMINGHAM ., WEST MIDLANDS

Politically sounds good, in practice it will cost the tax payer more. Take for example - two doctors to sign a death certificate will add millions to the costs given they already get additional money for signing death certificates?
Let the GMC's set up a QA system inhouse which monitors its members more closely....

J B, Ab,

Reform is long overdue. In no other job can you get away with malpractice without having to account for it so why should doctors be any different. For too long, incompetence goes by unactioned by the GMC and so where is the incentive for the doctor to do a good job? There is none. I have complained about a consultant in the past as the seriousness of the misdiagnosis would have left me infertile - had l not chosen to ignore the diagnosis. Nothing was done. Not even an investigation. I worry how many peoples' lives have irreparably changed for the worst due to the incompetence and arrogance of some doctors.
Completely contrary to what the GMC has said, these reforms can only improve care for patients from the wall they have had to face till now.

R. Taylor, London,

and who regulates the politicians? how sure are we that tehir decisions are for the good of all?
i am a doctor and i feel absolutely disgusted about what the government is doing to the medical profession.i would also like to ask who if nurses, who are increasingly taking over the roles of doctors, will be subjected to similar regulatory standards carried out by people who have no understanding of medicine.

disgruntled, cardiff,

I do not think losing self regulation is major problem for individual doctors. However switching the current criminal standard of proof, beyond reasonable doubt to the lesser civil standard, the balance of probabilities is not acceptable.
Majority of doctors doing excellent service in NHS and other organisations. Government should stop viewing every doctor like another shipman and treat them as criminals.

Prabhakar Motkur , Basingstoke ,

Just think of how much money Dr. Harold Shipman saved the taxpayer by bumping off platoons of unproductive pension-drawing oldies.

In the era of the greying society we could do with many more like him.

Rest in Peace wherever you are Dr. Harold!

Bill Corr, Hail, Saudi Arabia

We have the best Doctors in the World, Our Docters are sought in every country of the globe, just another case of Blair and his socilalist goverment meddling in things that have not been thought through.

And as for J Parfitt saying it will sort out cover ups, Just think where would we be without Doctors they are only human they should be treated as such not miracle makers.
Leave alone

K Pullen, Cheltenham, UK

Long overdue, this will put an end to professional cover ups and closed ranks. The history of the medical profession is littered with mal practice and professional mis-conduct.

J Parfitt, cwmbran, UK/gwent

The BMA and GMC have always had a problem representing patients - after all, before Shipman there was John Bodkin Adams as well. He was found not guilty in a trial in 1957, but the Home Office pathologist Prof. Camps at the time identified 163 cases where his patients had died suspiciously. In the majority of these cases, Adams signed the death certificate himself.
It's a shame we have such short memories...

J Malick, Eastbourne, UK

The BMA and GMC have always had a problem representing patients - after all, before Shipman there was John Bodkin Adams as well. He was found not guilty in a trial in 1957, but the Home Office pathologist Prof. Camps at the time identified 163 cases where his patients had died suspiciously. In the majority of these cases, Adams signed the death certificate himself.
It's a shame we have such short memories...

J Malick, Eastbourne, UK

The system worked. Shipman's death certificates were reported by a female doctor who was asked to sign the Part II Cremation Form. She reported to The Police and The Coroner.

PC Plod did nothing - The Coroner did little. It was not the Medical Profession that failed but the Police and The Coroner.

What is even more stunning is that The Registrar of Deaths did not flag up any queries as he/she loaded all this data into the computer and then threw away the Disposal Certificates.

This is not a medical failure but sheer incompetence from the administration side - Coroner, Registrar, Police - but noone expects competence from unprofessionals.

Roger, Manchester, England

This is long overdue. One large problem has been the GMC's failure to regulate doctorsm who have gotten into trouble abroad and who subsequently set up shop in the UK. After a series of scandals the GMC has shown that it either cannot or will not act.

BGrant, Aberdeen,

Once again this government has over-reacted to a "one-off".
I don't remember a raft of new regulations governing lorry drivers after Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty. These draconian measures are equally inappropriate.
Shipman was a mass murderer who happened to be a doctor. That does not mean there is a cohort of doctor murderers out there waiting to pounce, any more than there is a murdering culture amongst lorry drivers.

Ian Campbell, Collessie, Cupar, Scotland

Clearly it's the FSA (Fysical Standards Authority) that should be the regulator. As in their current role they could proceed to increase their own cost base and thus the costs of the regulated. This will result in fewer GPs practising as either a prescriptive or "principle" driven regime takes hold.

Heavy regulation does little for excellence and nothing for innovation. In stead it stiffles and demotivates. This is yet another attempt by governement at appearing proactive but is trying to manage the haystack instead of the needle. Rogue doctors will still occur, just like corrupt financial advisers, overcharging banks or careless insurance companies and how many years have they now faced statutory regulation and at what cost to themselves and benefit to their clients?

David, Sevenoaks, UK

All good doctors would like a system that prevents people like Shipman from carrying on what he did and for so long.However,it needs more than people who love to 'tick boxes' to prevent this happening-were the people running the mortuaries were Shipman signed these cremation forms not alerted by this recurring pattern of deaths,what about the doctors who had to provide the second signature?
The answer does not lie in giving more power to managers and politicians in diclipinary procedures for they may have motives other than the 'good' of the patient in doing what they do.

k singh, london, uk

The death of medical professionalism in the UK.

RIP.

Matlub Hussain, notts, nottingham