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Council needs more doctors to step forward as medical experts

By Catherine Reilly - 18th Nov 2024

medical experts

The Medical Council President has encouraged more doctors to consider acting as medical experts. The current shortfall is contributing to delays in the Council’s complaints process.

Dr Suzanne Crowe told the Medical Independent (MI) the Council may have to wait many months for an expert report. “So we would really like to encourage the medical profession to step forward and to act as medical experts, because it’s a very small pool of people who will act as an expert, and that leads to the delays in getting a report.”

She said an expert report could be key to determining whether a complaint should proceed or not.

Dr Crowe urged the profession to “really think of themselves as being eligible to be experts”, particularly female doctors who traditionally have been less inclined to come forward in this capacity. She added that doctors at earlier career stages may unnecessarily discount themselves as potential experts.

A recent survey by Medical Protection Society found that the length of Council investigations was a major stressor for doctors going through
this process.

In regard to other causes of delay, Dr Crowe cited difficulties obtaining healthcare records in a timely fashion from hospitals. She also encouraged doctors to engage promptly with the Council when they are made aware of a complaint.

The Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 will introduce significant changes to the Council’s complaints process, which will help to reduce timeframes in some cases.

The long-awaited provisions, which have yet to be commenced, provide for a new role for the Council CEO in receiving complaints and conducting investigations, with the assistance of authorised officers, before sending the complaint to the preliminary proceedings committee (PPC). The legislation also allows the PPC to establish subcommittees and to accept undertakings from doctors.

The Council is “optimistic” that the new provisions will be implemented in January/February.

Dr Crowe was speaking to MI at the Council’s launch of CAREhub on 5 November. CAREhub is an independent and confidential mental health support service provided by Lyra Health International. It is a free 24/7 service available to doctors, medical students, and members of the public who are engaging with any of the Council’s regulatory processes.

At the launch event, Dr Crowe commented: “Looking after your wellbeing is incredibly important, but it’s also important to have access to empathic, impartial support that you can trust and that is there whenever you need it 24/7… and that’s really where the idea of CAREhub comes in.”

For further information, visit www.medicalcouncil.ie/public-information/carehub.

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