Medical Council raises concerns on new health Bill

The Medical Council has today published details of its submission to the Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney on her proposed new Medical Practitioners Bill.

The Council is concerned that the draft Bill as currently worded may end elements of its independence.

“As worded it will allow a future Minister for Health to block Council activities which, though in the interests of patients, give discomfort to officials at a local or national level and the Health Services Executive, for example, could with the current drafting be able to put service provision above medical professional standards,” said Medical Council president Dr John Hillery.

“The Council has asked that these parts of the Bill are redrafted to ensure the continued independence of Council to act in the public interest.”

The Council also warned that increased resources will be required to fund life-span medical education.

“The Council welcomes the legislative underpinning of Competence Assurance Structures (Professional Standards),” said Dr Hillery.

“We also welcome the increased responsibilities in Medical Education, both basic and professional. However we believe that these activities will be meaningless unless properly resourced.

“The vast increase in resources that will be needed, of time and money from individual doctors, the Training Bodies, the Medical Schools and the Medical Council is not supportable by the profession.

If it is to be an effective medium for ensuring that the processes necessary to assure high standards for patients and doctors in future are in place, the resource provision for Medical Regulation must be spread beyond the profession and must be delineated in the final Bill.”

“The Bill and the resulting Act must acknowledge this and not set another regulatory system in place that is bound to fail as the current one has.”

The Medical Council discussed the draft Bill in the course of two meetings, in August and September and the submission is the majority response of the Council.

The submission identifies the main issues which are of concern to all members of the Council.