Promoting and maintaining public confidence in the medical profession

This research will explore how the public believes the General Medical Council should respond to specific behaviours/acts/omissions by doctors, particularly when these behaviours/acts/omissions have also been subject to action through the criminal justice system. The General Medical Council instigated a review of gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide in March 2018. One focus of this review is on the requirement placed on the General Medical Council to promote and maintain public confidence in the medical profession and how this should be put into practice, particularly where a doctor has been convicted of a criminal offence. This research will explore public perceptions regarding these issues. We suggest that this would best be achieved through a combination of focus groups and a survey with members of the public, but would be open to alternative suggestions from tenderers.