ABSTRACT
Past President of the GMC, Sir Donald Irvine, described the events at Bristol as triggering huge changes in the regulation of doctors, and provoking significant development of a new professionalism for medicine.1 The Bristol case demonstrates that NHS procedures were wholly inadequate to deal with senior consultants, some of whom were also holders of senior managerial office. The GMC should have been the significant external power, able to deal with the doctors free from any inhibiting issues arising from seniority or status. However, during the critical period the Council failed in this respect – it was either unwilling or incapable of acting to protect the public.
