Medical regulator to centralise IT

Case management and analytics software will support multi-million pound reform programme

The General Medical Council (GMC) is replacing disparate IT systems with integrated case management and analytics software to support a multimillion-pound reform programme.

The official regulator of the UK medical profession is to install Siebel Public Sector software that will be used as a single, centralised system across its operations.

The GMC hopes the system will improve the efficiency of its services, which include registering doctors, investigating complaints, and auditing medical schools, by providing staff with single-click access to key information.

‘The new system will help us reduce bottlenecks, and notice trends in complaints faster,’ said David Anson, head of information systems at the GMC.

‘We are implementing the most comprehensive and wide-ranging reform of medical regulation since the GMC was established,’ he said.

The GMC has been undergoing reforms over the past three years to improve all processes associated with monitoring and determining doctors and faster validation of foreign doctors.

The case management and adjudication systems will be up and running by March, and the organisation hopes to see immediate benefits.