MEDICAL COUNCIL Protecting Patients, Supporting Doctors

 Protects the public through regulation of registered medical practitioners  Registration– approx 18k doctors registered to work in Ireland  Quality assurance of undergraduate & postgraduate education & training  Guidance on professional standards and ethical conduct  Professional Competence and continuous professional development  Disciplinary procedures  Not involved in recruitment – ensuring independence of procedures Role of the Medical Council

Medical Council Eight Domains of Good Professional Practice

The importance of Medical Education Findings from the US  Students who lack thoroughness and are unable to perceive their weaknesses in the first two years of medical school are more likely...to be identified as unprofessional in the clinical years  Physicians who were disciplined...were three times as likely to have displayed unprofessional behaviour...than were control students.  Among some students, unprofessional behaviour is sustained over decades Source: Papadakis et al (USA) Disciplinary Action by Medical Boards and Prior Behavior in Medical School N Engl J Med 2005

Producing competent doctors Quality assurance of Undergraduate Medical Education: Accreditation of Medical Programmes and Schools – Using international best practice – the World Federation for Medical Education Standards – Visiting Campuses and hospitals Intern Year: ensuring quality of experience – Approx 40 clinical training site visits in 2011 Postgraduate Education: liaison with Postgraduate Training bodies, recognition of specialties Education and Training functions

Composition of medical register 2011 Grads of IRL med schools EU/ EEA grads Non-EU/ EEA citizens graduated from EU med schools Graduated outside EU/ EEA Registration Data accessed Q1 2011

Supporting doctors to enter Irish workforce Ensuring registration of doctors who meet Medical Council standards Registration routes through exams/ internship equivalence/ higher qualifications Examinations testing clinical, communications and data interpretation skills Registration

Medical Council sets and promotes standards for doctors Ethical guide updated during each term of Council Guidance on issues relating to conduct, ethics, treatment Professional Conduct & Ethics

Maintaining competence, maintaining trust Source: Millward Brown Lansdowne for the Medical Council, 2011

Statutory duty for doctors to maintain professional competence since May 2011 Lifelong learning and skills development Continuous professional development and clinical audit activities. Professional Competence

Planning and delivering new functions Learning model “Maintenance” Schemes 50 CPD credits / 1 Clinical Audit Assessment Model Assessment Scheme Responsive to complaints ALLSOME

Responding to performance issues A doctor subject to complaint may be referred to performance procedures System enables the Medical Council to handle performance concerns in a timely and fair manner, using a defensible assessment model, to achieve outcomes which protect the public and support doctors. – Not designed with disciplinary intent – Not designed to collect evidence for FTPC

Monitors and advises Council about the health of doctors with certain medical problems Referrals from FtP/ third parties/ self referral Most commonly mental or physical illness, drug/ alcohol misuse With the correct interventions, evidence of good outcomes for doctors with health problems balanced with the involvement of the relevant regulatory authority. Health Subcommittee

‘Right touch’ regulation – systems developed to protect patients and support doctors Priority to protect patients Developing and sustaining a strong workforce – Standards for Education & Training, registration requirements Supporting doctors – developing systems to support good professional practice Creating a framework in which professionalism can flourish and organisations can be excellent The Regulator’s Role