THE Medical Council will shortly consider a report by its Fitness to Practise Committee into an alleged breach of confidentiality by a Dublin psychiatrist.
The complaint against Dr Ivor Browne followed his revelations last year about the relationship between the late Father Michael Cleary and his housekeeper, Ms Phyllis Hamilton.
Dr Browne, former chief psychiatrist with the Eastern Health Board, treated Ms Hamilton for many years. He said in a RTE interview last year that it was "out in the open" between the people concerned that Father Cleary was the father of Ms Hamilton's son, Ross.
The Medical Council decided last year to investigate a complaint against Dr Browne. Its Fitness to Practise Committee last week held a private inquiry into the complaint. Dr Browne was also present. A council meeting will be held to consider the committee's report. This meeting is likely to be in mid November.
The council has the power to decide what sanctions, if any, should be brought against Dr Browne. The committee, chaired by the Professor of Psychiatry at the Mater Hospital, Dr Patricia Casey, can make recommendations to the council. The council is not obliged to accept them.
Under the Medical Council's ethical guidelines there are four exceptions where the rule of doctor patient confidentiality does not apply. These are when ordered by a judge to protect the interests of a patient to protect the welfare of society and to safeguard the welfare of another individual or patient.
If a doctor is found guilty of professional misconduct, the council can impose one of six sanctions. The doctor can be erased from the medical register, suspended for a period, or have conditions attached to the retention of his or her name on the register. These sanctions have to be ratified by the High Court.
The other sanctions - to advise, admonish or censure the doctor - can be applied whether he or she has been found guilty of misconduct or not. These do not have to be ratified by the court.
Dr Browne could not be reached for comment last night. He told The Irish Times last year that Ms Hamilton had asked him to confirm that Father Cleary was Ross's father. Dr Browne also emphasised that Ms Hamilton had been his patient, not Father Cleary.