By MARTIN JOHNSTON
Hospitals have been told to set up new systems to cut the number of doctors' mistakes, which harm thousands of patients a year.
The Ministry of Health has launched a new framework for "credentialling," which involves checking the competence of senior doctors and the adequacy of their hospitals.
All public hospitals have to set up systems in line with the ministry's plan by July next year. Private hospitals are being encouraged to follow suit.
When senior doctors start a job, a credentialling committee made up mainly of other senior doctors will check their qualifications and spell out the limits of their work.
Regular checks by the committees will be based on existing competence monitoring systems such as peer reviews.
The Counties-Manukau District Health Board, which runs Middlemore Hospital, is the only board in the country with a credentialling system covering all senior doctors.
Seven others have started with at least one group of specialists, 12 are developing a policy and one is yet to start planning.
The ministry expects the credentialling to reduce medical mistakes. Its report on the system notes that public confidence in the health system has been undermined by major failings such as the misreporting of cervical smear results which led to last year's Gisborne inquiry.
The first research on the scale of the problem here will appear in the Medical Journal in May by Christchurch School of Medicine public health specialist Professor Peter Davis.
It is unclear how many people are harmed by the mistakes of doctors, nurses and other medical workers, but estimates suggest preventable errors kill 1500 patients a year and leave many more with injuries, putting New Zealand in line with other countries.
Ministry spokeswoman Gillian Bohm said senior doctors had been chosen for the start of credentialling because they were one of the smaller groups and had less supervision than others. Eventually nurses, junior doctors and other health workers would be covered.
Medical Council chairman Dr Tony Baird, welcomed the ministry's report and said credentialling should help to reduce mistakes.
It would also turn the spotlight on any failings in hospitals, such as lack of resources and long waiting lists for diagnostic tests.
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