medical committee

1. (in a hospital) a group of doctors of consultant grade (some or all of the consultants on the hospital staff) who give medical viewpoints on affairs concerned with overall policies on patient care, resource allocation, and the running of the hospital. Representatives of other hospital professions (nursing, administration, planning, and junior doctors) are usually in attendance. It is generally divided into those specialist subgroups representing the broad divisions of hospital practice (medical, surgical, paediatric, etc.). Usually the chairmen of divisions form an executive committee for day-to-day decisions that are ratified at less frequent meetings of the medical committee.

2. (local medical committee) (in Britain) a group of representatives of the general practitioners under contract with a single Health Authority. The members act as spokesmen for the local practitioners, by whom they are elected. Similar arrangements and responsibilities apply for the dentists, pharmacists, and opticians practising in the NHS outside hospitals.