Rosalind Foster

Call: 1969

Expertise

Professional Regulation

Appointments

Lay Member of the Royal College of Physicians Patient and Carer Network

Legal Member (President) of the Mental Health Review Tribunal 1993 to date

Recorder of the Crown Court 1982-1997

Elected Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple 1997

 

Practice Profile

Rosalind has unrivalled expertise in professional regulatory and disciplinary matters in the health field especially in connection with the General Medical Council and General Dental Council. She has a particular interest in ethical and educational issues and lectures regularly on medical law, ethics and professionalism at undergraduate and post graduate level. She presented a very large number of the major cases before the Professional Conduct Committee of the GMC and conducted the majority of the appeals to the Privy Council until that jurisdiction ceased. She was closely involved in the evolution of the GMC’s performance procedures and presented most of the early cases including the early leading appeals. She has a great interest in medicine and has worked extensively with expert medical witnesses. She has sat on various national advisory panels including a consensus panel of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). As a lay member of the Royal College of Physicians network she is a regular contributor to workshops and consultation papers regarding the responsibility of physicians towards patients and regulatory matters. She is a member of a working party of the Royal College on Communications. She is a co-author of "Learning Medicine" 17th edition published by Cambridge University Press 2006 and 18th edition December 2007. In this she addresses ways in which doctors at all levels may avoid the pitfalls of practice and better discharge their responsibilities to their patients. Since 2003 she has been a President (Legal Member) of the Mental Health Review Tribunal on which she sits regularly.

 

She regularly lectures on professional regulation and discipline, and aspects of medical law, ethics and professionalism.

 

Professional Regulation

Lecturing on all aspect of medical law, ethics and professionalism.  Rosalind has co-authored a book "Learning Medicine", a major collaboration with 3 doctors in which she has produced an exclusive section on Regulation and avoiding the pitfalls of practice.  She continues to be heavily involved in the educational side of medicine, the debate on professionalism and maintains a high level of expertise in the regulation and discipline of the profession.
 

Notable Cases

Sadler v GMC (2003) 1WLR 2259; leading authority on assessment of performance in medicine/surgical specialty, Article 6, civil standard of proof applicable

Bhadra v GMC (2003) 1WLR 162: date on which extension of restrictions on practice take effect

Chaudhury v GMC (Privy Council Appeal no 78 of 2001. Judgment 15.7.02); committee entitled to go beyond recommendation of assessment panel in order to ensure proper protection of public

Krippendorf v GMC (2001) 1WLR 1054: first appeal under GMC Performance Procedures, relevance of the initiating complaint

Hossain v GMC (2002) Lloyd’s Medical Reports 64

Rajan v GMC (2000) Lloyd’s Medical Reports 153

Roylance (2) v GMC (2000) 1AC 311: responsibility of Doctor qua Chief Executive to respond to concerns about patients under care of hospital (Bristol paediatric surgery case)

Roylance (1) v GMC (Privy Council Appeal no 49 of 1998. Judgment 19.1.99): confidentiality of in camera discussions

GMC v BBC ex parte Panorama (1998) 1WLR 1573; attempt to delay broadcast failed because Professional Conduct Committee of GMC is not a Court

R v GMC ex parte Stewart and others CO 3387/97; status of complainants

Trivedi v GMC (Privy Council Appeal no 20 of 1996) Doctor cannot go behind conviction

McAllister v GMC (1993) AC 388: English law must be applied to GMC proceedings even though sitting in Scotland, standard of proof may depend on nature of allegations

Reza v GMC (1991) 2AC 182; drafting of conduct charge and proper approach by disciplinary body to multiple allegations amounting to serious professional misconduct

Lanford v GMC (1990) 1AC 13; charging and serious professional misconduct

Numerous Privy Council appeals from the Health Committee and the Professional Conduct Committeeof the GMC Numerous appeals to the High Court concerned with orders for interim and immediate suspension of registration

Additional Information

Awards

• Blackstone Entrance Scholarship, Crystal Macmillan Prize winner, Harmsworth Major Scholarship

 

Affiliations

• Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)
• Medico Legal Society

 

Lecturing

• Lecturing on medical law and ethics at undergraduate and post graduate level

 

Publications

• Co-author "Learning Medicine" 18th edition published by Cambridge University Press 2007.

 

Languages

• French