c. 90), passed in 1858,[2] established the General Council of Medical Education & Registration of the United Kingdom, now known as the GMC.

The 1858 act also created the position of Registrar of the General Medical Council — an office still in existence today — whose duty is to keep an up-to-date record of those registered with the membership body and to make them publicly available.

At the same time about 8,000 doctors, with support from the BMA, refused to pay the annual £5 retention fee.

It was submitted in Parliament that the GMC had asked for amendments of the Medical Act 1956 in order to secure a striking off from the register of any doctor who did not pay the levy.

[4] A public inquiry into the structure and function of the GMC, headed by Dr Alec Merrison, followed with evidence submitted by a BMA committee in 1973.