Which GMC Communication Skills Course for Doctors Facing an Investigation?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 8 November 2026

Which communication course fits a GMC investigation?

Start from the words in the GMC’s letter. A communication concern falls into one of three kinds, and the course should cover the one you face:

• with a patient: a manner the patient found rude or dismissive, an explanation of a diagnosis, a risk or a plan that was not understood, or a patient whose language needs were not met;
• with colleagues: a handover that left out information, a disagreement that turned into conflict, or a message to a colleague that was later criticised;
• in writing: a letter, a reply to a complaint or a note that was unclear or incomplete.

Ensuring Effective Communication covers all three, so it suits a letter that mixes them. If the concern is only about notes, the documentation course is the closer match.

What Good medical practice (2024) says about communication

The GMC sets communication standards across three domains:

• Domain 2, Treating patients with kindness, courtesy and respect: communicate sensitively, listen and acknowledge the patient’s concerns, and explain your reasons for the options you offer and those you do not.
• Domain 2, Sharing information with patients: give the information patients want or need in a form they can understand, check their understanding, and take proportionate steps to meet language and communication needs.
• Domain 3, paragraphs 49 and 65: communicate with colleagues clearly, politely and considerately, and confirm that the information needed for ongoing care has been shared before you go off duty, delegate care or refer a patient.
• Domain 4, Communicating as a medical professional: what you say or write must be accurate and not misleading, without leaving out relevant facts.

Domain 2 also asks you to respond promptly, fully and honestly to complaints. How you answered the original complaint can itself become part of the concern.

How the GMC looks at a communication concern

The GMC’s guide Our fitness to practise processes describes triage, then an investigation in which you are asked for your comments and the GMC gathers evidence such as records, witness statements and expert reports. For a communication concern, the witness statements and the patient’s account are central, so your comments need to engage with how the conversation was experienced, not only with what you meant.

Two case examiners, one medical and one non-medical, then decide between no further action, a warning, undertakings or referral to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. The GMC says undertakings can include further learning or working under supervision. A course completed before that decision, with a reflection, shows you have started that work yourself. What to expect in the first weeks is in our guide to a fitness to practise complaint.

Writing your reflection on a communication failure

The GMC’s appraisal questions and answers on Good medical practice 2024 say doctors should “reflect regularly on their standards of practice and use feedback and evidence to develop personal and professional insight”, and Domain 1, paragraph 13(d), asks you to reflect on feedback and on how your experience, culture and beliefs affect your interactions. A reflection on a communication concern is stronger when it:

1. describes the conversation from the patient’s or colleague’s side;
2. names the part of Good medical practice it fell short of;
3. sets out what you now do, for example checking understanding before you close a consultation.

What the GMC communication skills course covers

Eight sections: why communication matters for safety; listening, verbal and non-verbal communication and empathy; clear explanations, sensitive conversations and shared decisions; communicating in a team, including handling disagreement; records as communication; what the regulators expect; the effects of communication failures and remediation steps; and a closing assessment.

When a different course fits better

If the patient was not told when something went wrong, Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice covers openness after an incident. If the concern is about notes and letters alone, Professionalism in Documentation for Healthcare Professionals goes further into record keeping.

Counting a communication course as CPD for GMC revalidation

The GMC asks for CPD every year across your whole practice, with reflection on what you learned, and sets no points target. The GMC describes appraisal as a place to reflect and identify areas for development, so a communication course with a reflection on any feedback you received fits there.

Our GMC communication skills course for an investigation, and for CPD

Courses that sit beside it

Bulk Buy covers the £79 courses: 3 for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. Not sure what to take? Book a free 15-minute call or see which course do I need.

Guides that help

This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.

The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals, Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice, Professionalism in Documentation for Healthcare Professionals and Module on Reflection, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.

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