The draft Good Medical Practice code of professional conduct is now available for public comment and consultation
Over the past few years, all medical boards in Australia have issued guidance to doctors about expected standards of medical practice. Most of these documents were adapted from Good Medical Practice, a code of conduct first issued by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom in 1995.1 Given their shared origin, the various medical board guidelines have much in common, but they are not identical. On behalf of state and territory medical boards, the Australian Medical Council (AMC), through an expert working group, is developing good practice guidelines for the entire nation. This project is now well developed, and a draft Australian Good Medical Practice code2 is currently the subject of a consultation process with the medical profession and the community.
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- 1. General Medical Council. Good Medical Practice (2006). London: GMC, 2008. http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/index.asp (accessed Oct 2008).
- 2. Good Medical Practice: a draft code of professional conduct. Canberra: Australian Medical Council, Aug 2008. http://goodmedicalpractice.org.au/wp-content/downloads/DraftCodeOfConduct.pdf (accessed Oct 2008).
- 3. Australian Medical Association. AMA Code of Ethics — 2004. Editorially revised 2006. Canberra: AMA, 2006. http://www.ama.com.au/web.nsf/doc/WEEN-6VL8CP (accessed Oct 2008).
Joanna Flynn received sessional payments from the AMC for participation in meetings and other work related to development of the Code. The AMC also paid for her airfares and accommodation to attend consultation meetings around Australia in development of the Code.