2022-11-14
The General Medical Council is the regulatory body
" ... responsible for setting the standards for medical students and doctors ... "
You might think that this is the doctors' professional association with members elected by the doctors themselves ... but it appears that you would be wrong.
A quick investigation of their web-site reveals that it is rather coy about how the Council chair and members get their councillorships, so being intrigued by this rather basic omission I did an internet search and came up with a 2019 advertisement in the Sunday Times for a Council Member (£18K annually for 'up to' 3 days per month, since you ask):
"We are seeking to appoint a medical member for our governing Council"
Equally strangely, the said "We" are not unidentified. Is it the Council itself, or is it the owners of the council?
And the GMC web-site is equally coy about any matters concerning the funding of the GMC.
Interestingly, Companies House doesn't recognise "General Medical Council", although various unpromising entries exist for "GMC Associates" "Ltd" / "Limited" which I didn't pursue further.
Of course Doctors themselves have to pay fees to the GMC in order to practise, so I guess they get to pay, but don't get to vote ... although there is "help for fees for refugees" ...
Finally I located their Annual Report and Accounts for 2020, which revealed:
- Unrestricted income of £108.3 million (presumably from "fees")
- Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) provided £1.6 million for specific projects
- Gains on investments £2.5 million
The above funding total operational expenditure of £109.6 million
Cross-check: there are just over 350 thousand registered doctors paying fees of up to £420 (some get to pay less) so it's in the right ball-park for "unqualified income" of £108 million.
So it appears to me that it's a government controlled QUANGO that the doctors themselves get to pay for. Lucky doctors!
I guess that's how they get to get away with the sort of behaviour that no genuine professional association of medical doctors could countenance.
