Results from a recent survey of doctors by the BMA indicated that the majority have no confidence in the GMC and more than 80% of respondents support the creation of a new medical regulator.

The survey of doctors also reveals that more than 60% of respondents believe the GMC is failing to keep patients safe and fulfil its primary function of protecting the public.

Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA chair of council, told the association's annual conference in Liverpool: ‘More than 150 years ago the BMA, led by our founder Sir Charles Hastings, campaigned for the creation of a medical regulator that could protect the public' and that ‘today we have to unearth the old battles, we have to fight for the soul of our profession and renew our calls for a regulator, one unburdened by the abject failure of what the GMC has become'.

The BMA believes a new medical regulator should:

• have a clear statutory duty to protect the public, rather than simply being an overarching objective
• regulate doctors only, providing the public with a clear distinction between uniquely qualified doctors and non-doctor roles,
• enforce new statutory protections of medical practitioner titles, to ensure the public is not confused by perplexing NHS job titles that blur the lines between doctors and non-doctors.

During his speech Prof Banfield announced the launch of a BMA register for doctors to sign in support of a new regulator for doctors only.

In response, a GMC spokesperson said: ‘We take our role working with doctors to support good, safe patient care very seriously. Our aim is to deliver effective, relevant and compassionate regulation. A critical part of how we do this is by actively gathering feedback from doctors and patients about their experiences and using this to change and improve our processes.

‘This year, we also welcomed the announcement from Government of much-needed reform of the regulatory framework we operate to. Making further changes to the way we work will continue to benefit patient safety and ensure the public has confidence in the doctors we regulate.'