Sir: I was interested to read Alasdair Palmer's article about
doctors not shopping one another to the GMC. In fact, the GMC these days, believe it or not, is mainly con- cerned with medical standards; in 1994, out of 84 cases considered by the Professional Conduct Committee, out of 17 categories the largest single category (26) concerned disregard of professional responsibilities to patients. The other 16 categories were: 13 cases of indecency, 10 of dishonesty, 6 of improper relationships with patients and 13 others (including failure to report miscon- duct of colleague — 1!) which were ones and twos. Only a fortnight ago, another such case, concerning keyhole surgery, was widely reported in the press. The real prob- lem, of course, is getting Englishmen to inform on one another; doctors are no exception.
I still think the most disgraceful instance of rank-closing in recent years was that of the railwaymen about 20 years ago, who went on strike after one of their number was disciplined — not sacked — for driving his train past a red signal, an act of gross negligence that could have caused dozens of deaths.
MG. Barley
97 Lewes Road, Brighton, Sussex
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