General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order 2010

My Lords, I support the order. Putting all the regulation related to medical training under one regulator will be very beneficial. I was previously chairman of the specialist training authority and I remember the difficulties that I experienced when I tried to regulate postgraduate medical training. Like the noble Earl, Lord Howe, I pay tribute to the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board. Under the current and previous chairmen, the board has done a fantastic job in implementing the required regulatory framework for postgraduate medical education and training. The review that I am conducting on behalf of the General Medical Council and the PMETB has now gone out to wider consultation and is available on the GMC’s website for anybody who wishes to see it. People should feel free to comment on the consultation. We are looking at a regulatory framework that covers a doctor’s career from entry to medical school to the day that he or she retires. It should cover every stage of training at undergraduate and postgraduate level, continuous professional development and recertification. It may well be that, after consultation, some consequential changes are required to the duties and powers of the GMC to fulfil its duties in relation to making sure that people have the competencies necessary to remain on the register, whether that be a generalist or a specialist register. In that context, I support the part of the order on temporary registration in an emergency. This pertains only to general practice, because it is the competencies of a GP that would be required. The issue of whether retired specialists might be able to contribute—an important point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay—would have to be considered, including what regulatory framework would be required. I hope that the consultation document from the review that I am conducting will address that. Other powers may be required to fulfil that aspect, because it is slightly different on the GP side.