Letters
Health services administration
Volume 187 - Issue 8

In the wake of hospital inquiries: impact on staff and safety

Authors:  James A Dunbar, Prasuna Reddy, Bill Beresford, Wayne P Ramsey and Reginald S A Lord

Med J Aust 2007; 187 (8): 476-477. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01370.x
Published online: 15 October 2007
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In reply: Dr Arnold raises the difficulties involved in bringing poorly performing colleagues to notice and proposes that reporting doctors to a medical board is the best option.

There are difficulties in relying solely on medical boards. First, doctors have a very high threshold for referral to a medical board, so poor performance may not be reported. Even serious cases of poor performance can go unreported for many years.1 Second, there are many cases of remediable poor performance2 that require a different approach. In the United Kingdom, local procedures are managed by medical directors as part of their contract. The Good Medical Practice guidelines issued by the General Medical Council make it clear that all doctors have a responsibility to report poorly performing colleagues.3 If the medical director then fails to act, the hospital’s insurance could be invalidated and the medical director would appear before the General Medical Council.

A number of Australian jurisdictions, including the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland,4,5 have made substantial progress in developing local procedures that offer the best opportunity for remediation of doctors where possible, and for discipline by the medical board where not. With these procedures, we can assure patients of safety while maintaining as many doctors as possible in the workforce.

Authors

  • James A Dunbar1
  • Prasuna Reddy1
  • Bill Beresford2
  • Wayne P Ramsey3,4
  • Reginald S A Lord5
  • 1. Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health, Flinders and Deakin Universities, Warrnambool, VIC.
  • 2. Queensland Health, Rockhampton, QLD.
  • 3. ACT Health, Canberra, ACT.
  • 4. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.
  • 5. University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence: director@greaterhealth.org

References

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