GMC hearings 'too punitive'.

The punitive nature of fitness- to-practise hearings could be making it more likely bad doctors are going unchecked, the chair of the health select committee has warned.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference, MP Kevin Barron said, 'The disciplinary procedures can frighten people off reporting what they need to report. That's something we need to look at.'

He said that colleagues were rarely shocked when doctors ended up before the GMC. 'No one is surprised that this doctor has made a mistake, …