GMC Updated Professional Standards for All Doctors

The updated Good medical practice is now in effect. This sets out the standards of patient care and professional behaviour expected of all doctors registered with the GMC. 

You’ll be familiar with many of the principles in Good medical practice from your training and work. But it’s still important to get to know what’s changed. 

You can now access a new digital version of the updated standards on the GMC’s website. The presentation and structure of this has been refreshed and improved, so you can quickly find the information you’re looking for. 

Link to Good medical practice, digital version: Good medical practice - professional standards - GMC (gmc-uk.org) 

Link to summary of key changes webpage: Key changes to Good medical practice 2024 - GMC (gmc-uk.org) 

Applying the standards in practice 

To help you apply the standards, the GMC has also refreshed some supporting pieces of guidance on:        

• Delegation and referral 
• Ending your professional relationship with a patient
• Identifying and managing conflicts of interest
• Intimate examinations and chaperones
• Maintaining personal and professional boundaries
• Providing statements or expert evidence as part of legal proceedings
• Using social media as a medical professional  

These don’t establish new or different standards to those in Good medical practice. Instead, they explain more about specific topics and situations that doctors often have questions about. They’re also now in effect. 

Link to more detailed guidance: Professional standards for doctors - GMC (gmc-uk.org) 

The purpose of Good medical practice  

Good medical practice is a framework of professional standards to guide you when you’re caring for patients and working with colleagues. The standards describe good practice, but they aren’t a set of rules. You should apply them using your judgement, in the specific circumstances you face. 

In response to feedback in the GMC’s consultation, the updated Good medical practice includes a detailed explanation about how the standards relate to fitness to practise procedures. If a concern is ever raised with the GMC, they will always take the individual circumstances into account and consider any relevant factors known to them. 

Link to fitness to practise explained webpage: Fitness to practise explained - GMC (gmc-uk.org) 

How and why the standards have been updated  

Since 2021, the GMC has been working with thousands of doctors, patients and others involved in healthcare across the UK, to help create the updated standards.  

Along the way, they’ve published several blogs, from their staff, doctors and others they’ve collaborated with, to explain more about why these updates are needed now more than ever. 

Read more in our Good medical practice blogs: Good medical practice – Improving medical education and practice across the UK (wordpress.com)