Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the General Medical Council about improving the specificity of data points collected about the reasons that doctors (1) relinquish their licence to practice, and (2) leave the professional register, to better mitigate the causes of doctors leaving the profession.

The Department regularly discusses the data collections the General Medical Council (GMC) undertakes with the GMC. However, the Department has had no discussions with the GMC on changing data collection relating to the reasons for doctors choosing to relinquish their licence or leave the professional register.

The GMC is independent of the Government, directly accountable to Parliament, and responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.