The Doctors Support Group (DSG) aims to provide support and assistance to any medical professional or dentist facing suspension, exclusion, investigation of complaints and/or allegations of professional misconduct.
The members of the DSG have extensive personal experience of suspension, exclusion, NHS Trust and GMC investigations.
We aim to assist doctors and dentists cope with the enormous stresses and difficulties they may face.
Our prime objective is to enable those in what is a bewildering and confusing ballpark full of unknowns to eventually emerge with the minimum of professional and/or personal damage.
Members of the Doctor’s Support Group have an opportunity to network at meetings. We also try to link up members with similar experiences so that they can learn from one another.
Peter Tomlin, chairman of the group, has analysed the process by which senior hospital doctors are disciplined within the NHS and published on "The Suspensions Scandal" in The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. A number of faults were identified and he found that many of these give an unfair advantage to management and are contrary to the rules of "Natural Justice". Read more....
Recent Additions:-
Employment Tribunals - 16th November 2009
NCAS Update - Report 22nd September 2009
- NCAS referrals come from all parts of the UK and across all sectors, whether in hospital or in general practice;
- Two referrals in three are about clinical skills but behavioural concerns are also common, seen in more than half the cases analysed;
- The average duration of exclusions of doctors in the hospital and community sector has fallen by over a third since 2003, which directly addresses concerns raised over the past two decades about prolonged exclusion from work;
- Amongst 144 of our cases where the most serious concerns have been raised, two thirds were back in work after remediation – rather than being lost to the service;
- Certain groups of practitioners are more likely than others to be referred to NCAS, for example men and older practitioners. The same groups are also more likely to experience exclusion or suspension from work;
- The report also examines the part played by ethnicity and place of qualification in the likelihood of referral of practitioners in hospital and community services. It shows that non-white practitioners qualifying outside the UK are more likely to be referred to NCAS, but that neither referral nor suspension or exclusion from practice is any higher among non-white practitioners qualifying within the UK.”
The Doctor's Support Group is a sub-group from the Society of Clinical Psychiatrists.