It's irked me for many years now, how doctors and health professionals are not held to public account and scrutiny when things go wrong.
Police have to treat every death as a homicide, and if blame found, the person is taken to court and faces the scrutiny of the public. 99 times out of 100 they are named and shamed. The 1 time it doesn't happen is when "accidental deaths" occur at the hands of health professionals.
Isn't it time that stopped? Take for instance this case from Radio New Zealand report. The Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill seems to conclude the Doctor was culpable and neglectful. Now if one of our children died through a parent or parents being neglectful and culpable then they'd face the judiciary and the public. But no, one rule for some, another rule for the rest. It's time for the likes of Doctors to be held publicly accountable and to pay penance. There is a high chance this doctor is still plying his trade or will soon be after a stand down period, and putting other patients at risk.We lock up murderers because they promote a risk to public safety.
Not sure where you get your info from but actually that above is not true at all. They are in fact named and shamed. All such cases get reported to the professional bodies ie: Medical Council, Nursing Council etc and they face harsh judgement there like being stuck off as a doctor, nurse etc or having to pay money etc or having to practise with certain conditions......and all such cases have to be reported in professional journals etc which are public record. More often than not it is a systems failure than person failure..... ie: busy ward and doctor puts an extra 0 on the dose of morphine or their writing is so messy..... young nurse not experienced or supervised doesn't recognise the error and gives higher dose..... person dies. Who is to blame??? The hospital is...... and that is the same in any organisation..... ultimately the company is liable. What is more annoying is when the Court gives name suppression to doctors who are convicted for child porn etc. These are the ones you should take issue with as the professiobal bodies are still told and the person pubnished but names never released.
ReplyDeleteYou answer my question. The likes of the Medical and Nursing councils are laws unto the medical field. In the case of a homicide at the hands of malpractice that case should be dealt with in the courts not some mamby pamby in house judiciary.
DeleteThey dealt with by both if there is case to answer same as anyone else.......it's not an one OR the other situation.
DeleteThought I said this.....but if you in your job forgets to give someone their medication etc and they die should you face manslaughter charges, as that is effectively what you are saying here. Cos at the end of the day you wouldn't be charged either and in fact all that you would get is fired maybe. Then the next day walk into another job as a care giver. Health professionals are held more accountable than you would be for example. Just saying it's something to think about if you start down that path. I understand your frustration but it opens a whole can of worms that would cost everyone involved and fir what really?? Families are usually happy with the Commissioners findings and the compensation that they have to be paid as well as the face to face apology. Remember all such deaths go to the corner and they write a report for police then they decide on the basis of that if charges can be laid. You make it sound like health professionals get away with murder but no more than a anyone else in society.
DeleteOh and great blog by the way as gets people talking. What happened to your smoking blog as went to get stats and it was no longer.
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DeleteHow would naming and shaming help? Yes we could name and shame them for a mistake but then do we thank them for all the lives they have saved over the years prior to that mistake or do we just forget that and now ruin their lives? I'm not sure how this will help. The health professionals always apology directly to the family or person. I think they deserve a break personally and let the professional bodies decide if they are fit to work in their profession rather than the public.
ReplyDeleteSee my response above. What you suggest as an analogy is let's say a Cop served his country with distinction for years and suddenly had a brain fade and killed someone on the job. Yes he faces the Police Complaints process but he also must be tried in court to face his innocence or guilt. A death is a homicide until proven otherwise.
DeleteBut they do face the criminal courts also if the police see fit to prosecute just as anyone else AND they face there professional bodies. At the end of the day the ability to never be able to practice in the profession they trained in again is harsher than a few years community serve.
DeleteCops kill people all time and don't get to court to rule out homicide. Hard to convict people doing their job....... brian fade or not UNLESS there was malice or intent, ask any police officer or judge if u don't believe me. Who is served by such a conviction anyway if the person after 2 years community serve, such is the case with most manslaughter, continues to practise medicine or nursing etc.
DeleteHere is one of the latest cases of a doctor NOT breaking any laws and therefore would not have faced any charges in a criminal court BUT with whom has lost the ability to practise psychiatry and medicine in NZ. Plus he is 'named and shamed' as are all health professionals, who are found guilty by the "mamby pamby in house judiciary" as you put it......
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11161614
Thanks, yes it does happen, but I'd say not all that often. And in this case why are the Medical Council and Health and Disability commissioner the recipient of the fine? Why do they need to gain financially out of this? Surely ALL the money should have gone to the victim, despite her being paid by the rogue doctor already.
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