Probity in Medicine: What the GMC Means by Probity, and When a Probity Course Helps

Probity in medicine means being honest and trustworthy and acting with integrity in every part of professional life. For the GMC, a concern about probity is a concern about trust: a CV, a record, a report, a claim for payment or an answer to the GMC itself that was not true. This guide explains what the GMC means by probity, the conduct that leads to a probity investigation, how a tribunal judges dishonesty, and what helps a doctor respond. Our Probity for Healthcare Professionals course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10), 2 CPD hours, online, and CPD certified by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).

What does probity mean in medicine?

Patients trust a doctor with their health and their private information, and the public trusts the profession to tell the truth. Probity is what keeps that trust: being honest and trustworthy, and acting with integrity, in clinical work and outside it. It covers what you say about yourself, what you write in records and reports, how you handle money and research, how you manage conflicts of interest, and how you deal with your employer, your responsible officer and the GMC.

A probity concern is not about clinical skill. A doctor can be an excellent clinician and still face a serious GMC investigation for a dishonest timesheet, an altered note or an undeclared conviction. For that reason probity concerns sit among the gravest the GMC deals with.

What does Good medical practice say about probity?

Good medical practice, in effect from 30 January 2024, sets out probity in Domain 4, Trust and professionalism. Its headings include acting with honesty and integrity, acting with honesty and integrity in research, communicating as a medical professional, giving evidence and acting as a witness, managing conflicts of interest, and cooperating with legal and regulatory requirements. Among other things, it says doctors must:

• always be honest about their experience, qualifications and current role;
• be honest in financial and commercial dealings with patients, employers, insurers and others;
• make sure the information they give, in records, reports, statements and public communication, is not false or misleading;
• put the interests of participants first in research, and follow research governance;
• not allow any interest to affect, or be seen to affect, the way they treat patients, and be open about and declare a conflict of interest;
• cooperate with formal inquiries, patient safety investigations and complaints procedures; and
• tell the GMC without delay, anywhere in the world, if they accept a caution, are charged with or found guilty of a criminal offence, or have a finding made against their registration by another regulator.

Our guides to Good medical practice and to a GMC dishonesty investigation explain the standards with the conduct that breaches them.

What leads to a GMC probity investigation?

The conduct that reaches the GMC as a probity concern falls into a few groups:

• Honesty about yourself: a CV, job application, locum booking or reference that overstates experience or qualifications, or leaves out a restriction.
• Records and reports: a note altered or written after the event without saying so, a misleading report, or a statement that is not accurate.
• Money: timesheets, sick pay while working elsewhere, claims for work not done, or fees not explained to a patient. See Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals.
• Research: data that was invented or altered, or consent not obtained.
• Conflicts of interest: gifts, referrals or commercial ties that were not declared, or treating yourself or people close to you.
• Dealings with the GMC: a caution, charge or conviction not reported, or an inaccurate answer on a revalidation or registration form.

How does a tribunal decide whether a doctor was dishonest?

Medical practitioners tribunals apply the test for dishonesty that the courts use, set out by the Supreme Court in Ivey v Genting Casinos (2017). The tribunal first decides what the doctor actually knew or believed about the facts at the time. It then asks whether, given that state of mind, the conduct was dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people. The doctor’s own view of whether it was dishonest is not the test.

This matters for your response. A mistake made without knowing it was wrong is different from a step taken in the knowledge that it was false, and your account of what you knew at the time, set out with the documents, is part of the evidence.

What can happen after a probity finding?

The GMC’s case examiners can close a case, issue a warning, agree undertakings or refer it to a medical practitioners tribunal at the MPTS. A tribunal that finds impairment can take no action, accept undertakings, impose conditions, suspend the doctor for a set period or erase them from the register. The MPTS sanctions guidance treats dishonesty as serious, especially where it is persistent or covered up, and erasure is one of the outcomes a tribunal can reach.

What weighs on the other side is insight: an early admission of what happened, an understanding of why it was wrong and of its effect on trust, and evidence of what has changed. Our guide to how to demonstrate insight explains what decision makers look for.

What to do: five steps after a probity concern

1. Get advice the same day. Contact your defence organisation or legal representative before you reply to the GMC, your responsible officer or your employer.
2. Be accurate in every answer. A second inaccuracy in your response to a probity concern makes the first one more serious. Check every date and fact against the documents.
3. Keep to the facts. Gather the records, timesheets, applications, emails and messages, and write down what you knew at the time while it is clear in your mind.
4. Start remediation that matches the concern. Take a probity course, keep notes after each section, and add a course on money, records or research if the concern is about one of these.
5. Write a reflection that shows insight. What happened, which part of Good medical practice it fell short of, the effect on trust, and what you have changed. See how to write a reflective statement.

A probity course for a GMC concern or for CPD

Our probity course covers honesty and integrity across records, applications, research, money and dealings with the regulator, and ends with insight, reflection and remediation. It serves a doctor responding to an allegation of dishonesty, and a doctor planning CPD for appraisal and revalidation.

Related courses

Any 3 courses for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. The £49 Modules are bought on their own. Unsure where to start? Book a free call or use which course do I need.

This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub.

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