Medical Council’s past chief guilty of poor performance
Dr Colm Quigley, a consultant in general medicine and a former president of the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association, had five allegations of poor professional performance proven against him before a fitness to practise inquiry.
They related to his handling of a patient, referred to him with what his GP feared was a “serious underlying condition”.
Despite two appointments with the man over a 15-month period, and a series of enquiries from the man and his wife, Dr Quigley failed to ensure a series of medical tests were carried out.
The man, identified only as Patient X, went on to die from lung cancer.
However, in delivering the committee’s ruling yesterday, chairman Danny O’Hare stressed that it was not alleged that any error on Dr Quigley’s part caused the deterioration in patient’s health or his death.
The inquiry heard that Patient X had complained to his GP of pain in his ankles and feet and was first referred to Dr Quigley in Aug 2009 after blood tests showed him to be suffering from low sodium levels.
His wife told the inquiry that following this appointment, the couple felt her husband was in “very good hands — whatever was wrong with my husband would be investigated and we would come to some sort of conclusion”.
Among the allegations proven against Dr Quigley was that he failed to recognise in Nov 2010 that tests he had planned in Aug 2009 had not been carried out.
The committee also found that Dr Quigley had failed to ensure he had an adequate system in place for tracking patient tests.
He was also found guilty of poor professional performance for failing to respond to three letters from Patient X’s widow.
His widow, Mrs A, dec-ided to make a complaint against Dr Quigley after he sent an appointment letter to her home following her husband’s death in which he stated “I trust he is keeping well… I would be anxious to keep a watch on him”.
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