Media force out doctors: report

Doctors are being scared out of practice by hostile media publicity during complaint investigations, Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson says.

In his annual report released yesterday, Mr Paterson says media publicity on complaints will impact on New Zealand's health workforce shortage.

In a section headed Trial By Media, he said stories of medical misadventure and patients' death or disability continued to attract media interest. Although individual negligence was seldom the sole factor, injured patients and their families often focused on a single health professional involved in their treatment.

"Despite the willingness of many providers to disclose mistakes and say sorry ... a majority of disgruntled patients are quick to contact the media."

There was a growing tendency for the media to publicly identify health professionals accused of negligence, even before their case had been heard, creating the impression of guilt, he said.

"One of the factors cited by doctors giving up practice is hostile media publicity.

"In fact, most media reporting of health issues is positive. But reporters should aim for fairness and balance in their stories."

The chairman of the Media Freedom Committee of the Commonwealth Press Union, Gavin Ellis, described Mr Paterson's comments as "unfortunate".

"The commissioner characterises the news media as some sort of weapon wielded by the undeserving and that is unfortunate," Mr Ellis said. "Stories about medical complaints are not rife but when a patients feels so strongly that they wish to make their case public they surely have a right to do so.

"Such disclosure is part of the modern climate of patients' rights, informed consent and transparent procedures. While medical professionals have rights that also need protecting - and civil law provides such protection - their actions may also be open to public scrutiny from time to time.

"It is unfortunate that Mr Paterson chose to turn the news media into a whipping boy in his annual report. To suggest that media reports would be responsible for shortages in the medical workforce frankly goes too far.

"There are complaints procedures available that the commissioner outlines in his report but a prohibition on patients' publicly stating their concerns would be to draw down a veil of secrecy that, at the end of the day, would serve no one very well."

Mr Paterson said he would strive to protect the privacy of people who were the subject of complaints, but cases before the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in which practitioners were found guilty were different.

There was public interest in transparency and accountability in disciplinary proceedings, and name suppression after a guilty verdict should be reserved for exceptional cases.

- NZPA