Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure trauma-informed education and training for all staff involved in fitness-to-practice cases within the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) is a statutory committee of the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of all medical doctors, anaesthesia associates and physician associates practising in the United Kingdom. The MPTS operates separately from the investigatory role of the GMC to make impartial decisions about whether doctors are fit to practise medicine. The MPTS is independent of Government, accountable to the GMC and Parliament.

The appointment, training and appraisal of tribunal members is undertaken by the MPTS to ensure independence of tribunal decision making. All tribunal members are required to take part in annual training. In 2024, this included decision making in sexual misconduct cases, supported by case studies, encompassing inappropriate sexual behaviours, sexual motivation and sexual harassment, rape myths and assessing demeanour.

The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from government. My Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not taken any steps to ensure trauma-informed education and training for all staff involved in fitness-to-practice cases within the MPTS.