As someone who has witnessed and experienced firsthand the troubling incidents of misconduct and abuse by Doctors and GP partners in a local surgery, I believe it is imperative to safeguard and protect patients to ensure a safe healthcare environment.

Patients like myself who have experienced abuse and misconduct at the hands of medical professionals often find themselves in a vulnerable position, struggling to raise their voices against the very individuals they should trust most.

Each year, numerous cases go unreported, leaving many victims without closure or justice, further diminishing public trust in healthcare systems.

According to recent studies, a significant percentage of misconduct cases are not communicated to regulatory bodies, which are crucial in maintaining and improving standards.  In many instances, fear of repercussion or simply not knowing the correct process leads to under-reporting. It is alarming to realize the gap in the system that allows such behaviours to perpetuate without the chance for regulatory overview or correction.

However, people who can play a vital role in diminishing/eradicating abuse are Practice Managers within a surgery.  The statutory duties of practice management involve legally mandated requirements to ensure an organization operates within regional and national laws - this is where unseen abuse can occur, behind closed doors.  These core legal and regulatory obligations typically cover data protection, employment law, health and safety, and financial compliance.

Regulatory and Information Compliance

• Data Privacy: Protecting sensitive records and managing data security under applicable privacy laws (such as GDPR or HIPAA).
• Regulatory Standards: Adhering to sector-specific licensing bodies, boards, or inspectorates.
• Record Retention: Maintaining accurate document archiving, destruction policies, and registers.
• Employment and Workforce Obligations
• Labour Laws: Complying with fair employment, anti-discrimination, and working hour regulations.
• Staff Licensing: Verifying and tracking professional credentials, registrations, and practicing certificates for staff.
• Workplace Safety: Enforcing statutory health and safety rules to protect workers and visitors.
• Ensuring the practice is accessible to all patients, including those with disabilities. 
• Financial and Tax Duties -Tax Compliance: Managing proper reporting and payment of local taxes, levies, and withholdings.

Regulatory compliance is a non negotiable aspect.

Regulatory & Quality Compliance (CQC) Sector-Specific Frameworks:

• Practice managers must align operations with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) sector-based regulation strategy. 
• Duty of Candour: Managing immediate, open disclosure and apology to patients under Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 when safety incidents or care errors occur.
• Complaints System: Operating a statutorily compliant procedure to acknowledge, investigate, and resolve formal clinical and administrative patient complaints

Data Protection & Information Governance

• UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018: Serving as or supervising the Data Protection Officer to safeguard electronic medical systems (e.g., EMIS, SystmOne).
• Statutory Data Disclosures: Managing strict legally mandated timeframes—such as fulfilling Subject Access Requests (SARs) within one calendar month—while adhering to the Caldicott Principles of patient confidentiality.

Safeguarding & Safe Workforce Recruitment

• Safeguarding Alerts: Enforcing strict child and vulnerable adult safeguarding pathways in line with local authority boards
• Professional Registration Checks: Annually auditing the statutory registrations and licenses to practice for clinical staff via the General Medical Council (GMC) or Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

You might think a Practice Manager(s) has full 'control' over a surgery and oversees everything with all these regulations - this is not always the case as not only are there evidenced gaps but GP partners effectively 'run' the organisation and can take over, even bully Practice Management or exploit their positions to cover their own interests.  This can mean Practice Managers are sidelined.

It can be noted that other 'outside interests' can exercise a significant control over the surgery, such as those residing on the PCN - former Practice Managers for example so these should be also best placed to advise.

I have seen instances where GP Partners take on hiring of new staff themselves; bulldoze patient complaints and even force Practice Managers in to doing things they wouldn't normally.  I have observed abuse in disguised forms by GP partners against PMs - all over-stepping their mark.

This shouldn't be allowed to happen.

Making it mandatory for Practice Managers at NHS General Practitioner (GP) surgeries to report every incident of misconduct or abuse by Doctors/Partners to relevant bodies such as the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Care Quality Commission (CQC), Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), and Social Services, among others, would go along way to ensure that these acts are met with the accountability they deserve.  This not only serves the immediate victims of abuse but it also acts as a deterrent for potential misconduct, thus safeguarding future patients and their families.

Maybe you are a former Practice Manager who has witnessed Doctors abusing patients in varying forms either at the surgery or heard/read reports of abuse online about them.  Maybe you have been unfairly removed from your post for rightfully raising internal concerns about the conduct of a Doctor; maybe you have been threatened by Doctors in to staying silent; maybe you are scared of a particular Doctor; perhaps you are seeing repeated patient complaints about a Doctor; maybe there is a bully at your practice and you don't know how to deal with your situation - if so, this petition is for you.

You CAN make a difference, not only for current patients, current staff members, future staff members and future patients but an overall surgery's future reputation.

We need a healthcare system where patients feel secure and validated, knowing that there are robust, transparent mechanisms in place to handle violations of trust. By making mandatory reporting a standard practice, we can help bridge the gap between perception and reality, bringing about a culture of safety and respect within GP surgeries.

I urge everyone who believes in the importance of patient safety and accountability to join in this critical movement. Let us push for policy changes that enforce mandatory reporting from Practice Management over misconduct by Doctors at their surgery.

Your signature can help pave the way for a healthcare environment we can all trust and rely on.  Please sign and share this petition to demand action and protect patients from abuse and misconduct in GP surgeries.