Professionalism and the Francis Report on the MidStaffordshire Hospital Scandal

I came across a link to this page on Twitter recently. I have mixed feelings about this. Acting, when one sees poor practice is part of Good Medical Practice, a set of codes, published by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, that define Medical professionalism. Legislating for professionalism (which is what this e-petition is asking for) always makes me uncomfortable. It undermines the whole concept of professionalism when certain behaviour is enforced through the letter of the law.
I have a sneaky suspicion that something like this may very well be the end result (or part of it at least) of any legislation that results from the Government's response to the Francis report. This report is the product of the independent public inquiry that was initiated by this government to investigate the terrible things that happened at MidStaffordshire Hospital in the English Midlands. Its publication is long overdue, April, then June, now October and it is inconceivable that new legislation will not result from its publication.