Sir, – The notion that health service workers are unaccountable is completely untrue in the case of doctors (February 20th). First, doctors are accountable to their employer, usually the HSE, with the normal employer-employee rules applying. Second, doctors are accountable in the civil courts, where patients can seek monetary compensation, and we see this frequently in the columns of your newspaper. Third, doctors are accountable in the criminal courts, and we have also seen several cases of this in the last decade. Fourth, we have seen that doctors are publicly accountable before the Medical Council, which can withdraw their license to practice. Fifth, doctors are accountable in the court of public opinion, perhaps the most damning court of all. – Yours, etc,
GARRY BURY,
Dalkey, Co Dublin.