The British General Medical Council (GMC) has invested around £870,000 in doctor donations to fast food companies and sugar-sweetened soft drinks. This has led to dissatisfaction among doctors, as such investments can increase the burden on the healthcare system. BMJ.
The General Medical Council charges British doctors a one-time registration fee of £161 followed by £420 per year. The doctors found that the organization has invested around £870,000 in food or soft drink companies such as Nestlé, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Pepsico, Coca-Cola and Unilever.
“GMC is funded by UK doctors. They would be horrified to know that their money is being invested in fast food companies that cause many diseases, reduce quality and life years, and put even more pressure on the healthcare system. It’s no different than investing in tobacco companies,” said Sam Everington, GP at Tower Hamlets and Head of the Clinical Commissioning Team at Tower Hamlets, in a comment to the BMJ.
Glasgow GP Margaret McCartney added: “UK medical practitioners have no choice but to pay substantial annual fees to GMC. The organization must show that it uses its funds wisely and I am not sure why GMC holds so much money and why this and not otherwise. “It’s not clear to me how he chooses to invest. Doctors need to be transparent about where and why their salaries are invested.”
Investment policy is reviewed annually by the GMC Board, and a Board spokesperson has already stated that they are considering posting the investment on their website to make the investment more transparent.
The company has also invested over £1.2 million in pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca, Merck and Roche and over £1.3 million in various medical device manufacturers such as Edwards LifeSciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Intuitive Medical. system.