His honour is for services to general medical practice and to broadcasting.

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His concerns are endorsed by Dr Paul Cundy, the British Medical Association's adviser on computers in general practice.

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Patients are normally protected from bogus doctors because all doctors must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) before they are allowed to practice.

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Small wonder that only around 9% of American medical-school graduates choose family practice (general practice, in British parlance) a rate that according to the American Academy of Family Physicians will leave the country short of around 40, 000 family doctors by 2020.

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Another doctor at the surgery, Dr Obiako Okafor, was suspended by the General Medical Council last November, pending the outcome of a fitness to practice investigation.

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At its conclusion, should the doctor be found guilty of malpractice, he or she can be censured in a report, or even reported to the General Medical Council, which can, in extreme cases, remove the doctor's right to practice.

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