OLDER MALE DOCTORS who work as hospital consultants are more likely than others to be referred to a regulatory body because of concerns about their performance, a conference organised by the Medical Council has been told.
The medical director of the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) in the UK, Prof Alastair Scotland, said about one in 200 doctors and one in 250 dentists were referred to it annually.
NCAS was set up to advise the public on, and to help resolve concerns about, the professional performance of doctors, dentists and pharmacists practising in Britain. It manages about 1,000 cases every year.
An analysis of these cases found that psychiatrists, obstetricians, gynaecologists and doctors in general medical practice were more likely than other practitioners to be referred with issues ranging from their behaviour to governance and clinical concerns.
A doctor’s age, sex and ethnicity were other factors that influenced whether performance concerns might arise, he said. But after remediation, some two thirds returned to work successfully.
Prof Scotland was speaking at Maintaining Confidence, Maintaining Trust, a conference organised by the Medical Council in advance of the introduction of a statutory scheme under which doctors in the Republic will be formally obliged to maintain their professional competence.
From May 1st, doctors seeking to renew their professional registration will be required to complete an annual declaration that they have enrolled in and are complying with the requirements of a specific competence scheme.
The new rules require doctors to “systematically acquire, understand and demonstrate the substantial body of knowledge that is at the forefront of the field of learning in their speciality, as part of a continuum of lifelong learning”.
Asked if the scheme would have a negative impact on medical manpower, council president Prof Kieran Murphy said he did not think it would, adding the council’s approach was to be flexible and to encourage as many doctors as possible to maintain their registration.
Opening the conference, Minister for Health Dr James Reilly said the new statutory requirement was a significant step forward. “Regulation must not lose its focus on patient safety,” he said.