The letter to BMANEWS was submitted on behalf of the SCP and regrettably only a seriously bleached (not merely condensed) version was published in BMANEWS issue April 26">

Our original letter to the BMA News.. The letter to BMANEWS was submitted on behalf of the SCP and regrettably only a seriously bleached (not merely condensed) version was published in BMANEWS issue April 26, 2003.  The Editor,  BMA News,  30 March 2003 Dear Editor Issue 16 February 2003 GMC News (p 4-5) published an interview with GMC President Sir Graeme Catto by Dr Ian Bogle following legislation aimed at 'overhaul of medical regulation'.  Recently there appears to be a reluctance to mention 'self-regulation' of the  profession. Are we, as registered medical practitioners, now self-regulated or not?  Forgive my confusion.  When Sir Graeme was asked about doctors possibly exchanging self-regulation for regulation by government and thereby saving money, he answered "whosoever regulates doctors will charge them.  We prefer to talk about professionally led regulation in partnership with the public".  Isn't that what we have had since 1858 and the public, in recent years in independent polling, has regularly endorsed its overall confidence in doctors - and incidentally its lack of it in politicians.  Sir Graeme indeed reminds us that 'when independent regulation [of the medical profession] has been removed in other countries, patients have seen a fall  in standards'. Quite so.  Concern here is that  with already so much government diktat  about how doctors should deliver services (waiting list targets are just one example), patient care by doctors has been predictably undermined.  The way ahead, as defined by politicians seems likely to further entrench  this trend. Either we are self-regulated or we are not.  It could be a foolishness for the profession to pay for government driven faux  self-regulation which  devalues what practitioners do, whatever their specialty. The profession protests at each new turn of the screw directive,which effectively erodes any remaining genuine self regulation. Voices warn that by doing so it risks losing that self regulation which anyway  government covertly strips away as it increases empowerment of its NHS managerial bureaucracy. Patients' and profession's greater risk lies in our failing to protest robustly in  protecting proper self regulation.   Yours sincerely Dr Dermot J Ward  FRCPI FRCPsych Deputy Chairman , Society of Clinical Psychiatrists