New British move to monitor doctors

Plans have been unveiled in Britain for a new body to investigate complaints about doctors.

The move follows a series of recent medical scandals, including the case of Dr Harold Shipman, who's believed to have murdered up to three-hundred of his patients.

The new body, the National Clinical Assessment Authority, aims to speed up the procedure under which doctors accused of misconduct are prosecuted.

It forms part of a series of reforms designed to restore public confidence in the medical profession.

Critics of the plans, including some of the relatives of Shipman's victims, say any system that relies on patients policing doctors is bound to be ineffective. Shipman was convicted last year of killing fifteen, mainly elderly female patients with lethal injections.

Last week a government investigation concluded he may have murdered up to three-hundred patients during his twenty-four-year career.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service