The Medical Council plans to ensure that communication becomes mandatory as part of doctor’s continuous professional development, according to its annual report for 2018. Maureen Browne reports.
There were 396 complaints received by the Council during 2018 – involving 1.9% of doctors on the register. In keeping with the pattern of recent years, the largest category of complaints received (166) was in relation to, or had elements of, communication issues, which involved 19% of complaints.A total of 29 Fitness to Practise Inquiries were completed during the year.
Medical Council CEO, Mr Bill Prasifka said “Once again in 2018 the number of complaints which related to communications issues has remained high. In response to this, the Medical Council is taking a number of actions to address the situation, such as ensuring communication becomes mandatory as part of a doctor’s continuous professional development.
There were 22,996 doctors on the Irish Medical Register in 2018, up from 22,649 in 2017, according to the report.
Thirty- five per cent of the registered doctors were aged 35 or under, 58% were male and 42% were female.
The report also showed that 58% of registered doctors received their primary medical qualification in Ireland, 14% from another EU member state or a nation in the European Economic Area and 28% from another country.
