Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 January 2017
438. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Health if the Office of the Ombudsman, in investigating a complaint against a doctor in a hospital, has access to clinical investigations; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2691/17]
View answerThe Medical Council is designated as the regulatory body for all registered medical practitioners under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007. It has a statutory role in protecting the public by promoting the highest professional standards among medical practitioners practising in the Republic of Ireland. Under the Act the Medical Council is the body responsible for examining complaints against medical practitioners. Parts 7, 8 and 9 of the Act set out how complaints are managed by the Council.
When the Medical Council receives a complaint the Preliminary Proceedings Committee (PPC) investigate the complaint. From the PPC the complaint may be referred to the Fitness to Practice (FTP) Committee, where a final determination on the doctor's fitness to practice is made by the Council based on the evidence provided to the FTP Inquiry and FTP Committee's report.
The functions and powers of the Ombudsman are set out under the Ombudsman Act 1980, and responsibility for the Office of the Ombudsman comes under the aegis of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
The Ombudsman published a report in 2015 entitled "Learning to Get Better - An investigation by the Ombudsman into how public hospitals handle complaints". One of the recommendations in that report was "Consideration should be given on a wider front to amending the statutory complaints process (and the remit of the Ombudsman) to allow for the inclusion of clinical judgement as the subject about which a complaint can be made". Under current legislation the Ombudsman cannot examine complaints which relate to a person acting on behalf of the HSE and which, in his opinion, relate solely to the exercise of clinical judgement in the diagnosis or care or treatment of a patient. However, the Ombudsman can examine the administrative actions of healthcare professionals and administrators taken in the course of clinical work which do not involve clinical judgement.
My Department's National Patient Safety Office is conducting a review of the statutory complaints process and this will include consideration of the recommendations in the Office for the Ombudsman report of 2015. The review will also examine how the HSE examines complaints in accordance with its obligations under Part 9 of the Health Act 2004.
