GMC Good Medical Practice
Definition
The UK General Medical Council's core professional standards document (most recent edition 2024). Binding on all registered medical practitioners in the UK; breach can result in erasure from the medical register.
- Issuing body
- UK General Medical Council
- Latest edition
- 2024
- Legal status
- Binding professional standard for UK-registered doctors
- Breach consequence
- Can result in erasure from the medical register
Common questions
How does Good Medical Practice differ from a legal statute?+
It is not primary legislation but a professional regulatory standard issued by the GMC; breaches are assessed through GMC fitness-to-practise proceedings rather than criminal courts, though outcomes including erasure from the register can end a doctor's ability to practise in the UK.
Why does this document matter in medico-legal certification?+
It sets the ethical and professional benchmark against which a doctor's conduct in producing medical certificates, expert reports or death certification is judged, so deviations from its standards can be used as evidence of professional misconduct.
Does Good Medical Practice apply to doctors giving expert testimony in court?+
Yes, the GMC's standards extend to a doctor's conduct as an expert witness, including duties of honesty, objectivity and staying within their area of competence, separate from any additional court-specific expert witness rules.
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