Cautious tick for medical watchdog

By QUENTIN CLARKSON

The new method of investigating errant doctors has solved some problems but is also inefficient, costly and slow, says the former head of the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.

Dr Dean Williams said the Medical Practitioners Act 1996 had done a lot to improve the previous legislation.

Dr Williams chaired the former committee between 1985 and 1995 and in that role decided which doctors went before disciplinary hearings.

He remained a member of the new Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal for another three years before retiring, and has recently retired from consultant surgical practice.

The former general surgeon from Hamilton said the 1996 act meant that the tribunal chairman no longer had to both decide whether a case was warranted and chair the subsequent hearing. "This is a significant improvement."

Secondly, the maximum fine was raised from $1000 to $20,000 and the six-member committee changed into a 30-member tribunal, with five sitting at a hearing.

The hearings were also held in public and the tribunal was allowed to examine other related issues.

Dr Williams said the 1996 act required the Health and Disability Commissioner to see most cases first. The commissioner then sent some cases to complaint assessment committees.

One hundred of these were originally set up, and 35 remain. They comprise two doctors, a lawyer and a legal assessor, and can take up to two years to decide if a case should proceed.

Dr Williams used to decide in three weeks whether to pursue a case, and sent about 50 a year to hearings, from a total 500.

He said all but three or four of the assessment committees should be scrapped because they took too long to make decisions.

"These committees are enormously expensive and inefficient. They don't get enough practice to become skilled."

The most extraordinary aspect of the 1996 act was that only 15 to 20 hearings were held a year, despite a rising number of complaints, he said.

While the legislation had addressed some problems, Dr Williams said, it was cumbersome, inefficient, expensive and very slow.

But Medical Council president Tony Baird said the tribunal received far fewer complaints than in the past because most went before the commissioner.

His spokeswoman, Susan Pattullo, said 199 complaints were made against doctors in the 1998-99 year. Of those, 132 were referred to the commissioner and the rest went before assessment committees.

Dr Baird said Dr Williams had done his job extremely well, but complaints now went to three places instead of one - the council, commissioner and tribunal.

Dr Baird said some cases the commissioner referred to committees might have been delayed up to two years, but most the council referred took less than six months.