August-16-2013 in Healthcare Law
The Medical Council has confirmed that it is now Council’s policy to request all doctors who are the subject matter of a complaint to participate in an audit so that the Council may monitor and assess compliance with the Medical Council’s Professional Competence Scheme.
This policy will apply irrespective of the outcome of the Medical Council complaint so General Practitioners need to ensure that they are up to date in complying with the Professional Competence Scheme. If a doctor refuses, fails or ceases to cooperate with requirements relating to their legal duty to maintain professional competence or fails to comply with the audit requirements, the Medical Council will make a complaint which may result in disciplinary action.
The Medical Council has developed a number of Professional Competence Schemes run through the Post Graduate Training bodies and the minimum requirements are to have 50 credits per year and one clinical audit per year. The credits are broken down into different activities including external, internal, personal learning and research or teaching. Doctors must also participate in one or more exercises that relate directly to their area of clinical practice.
The Medical Council’s website contains guidance documents which will assist any General Practitioner who is the subject matter of a complaint and is subsequently required to participate in an audit, and also contains guidance documents on the Professional Competence Schemes. These documents can be found by clicking on the following link:
http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Information-for-Doctors/Professional-Competence
To find out more, please contact a member of our Healthcare team.
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