I received this interesting link today: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9138415/Doctors-could-face-GMC-action-for-ignoring-poor-care.html. If this were to be implemented here, many doctors may be jobless! I see mismanagement and misdiagnosis on a daily basis , both from public and private sector. I am not saying that doctors don’t make mistakes but a poor care to any patient can be penalised. According to this regulation implemented by GMC today, any doctor who witness poor management of case by another doctor should report it to GMC. If not, you will get into trouble as well for compromising patient safety.
Unfortunately our MMC is not as effective as GMC. One of the reasons could be the fact that MMC comes under Ministry of Health and the DG automatically becomes the chairman. If you visit MMC website http://mmc.gov.my, you will hardly find actions being taken to doctors ( there are a few but mainly due to falsification of documents). It could be due to the fact that not many patients or doctors complain about another doctor. When the new amended Medical Act is tabled in the Parliment(hopefully soon), MMC will be corporatised and I hope it will become more effective.
We also do not have a compulsory Specialist Register. Even though National Specialist register(NSR) www.nsr.gov.my was launched in 2006, it was not made compulsory yet as the the Medical Act need to be amended. Unfortunately, even before all this monitoring mechanism is in place, the government has allowed doctors who have been in service for more than 10 years overseas to return without the need for compulsory service. Thus, these doctors can go straight to private sector! I am now hearing news of some private hospitals recruiting “so-called” specialist “trained” in a particular country and credentialing them as specialist/consultants to make money. These private hospitals do not make any attempt to make sure whether these ” specialist” are really what they claim to be. I am already hearing horror stories from these hospitals but yet the management of these hospitals are not bothered as money comes first! Imagine doing FESS surgery for 4 hours! They seem to claim that they can do all sort of surgeries etc but in reality it’s all talk but no action! The management of the hospital even got a cheek to say that NSR registration is not compulsory! I was informed that MOH is aware but no action so far as patients did not make any complain.
I just hope MMC will implement more drastic measures to monitor quality of doctors in this country, have more teeth and not to succumb to political pressures. The NSR should be made compulsory for private hospital’s consultants till the medical act is amended.
Doctors could face GMC action for ignoring poor care
Doctors could face disciplinary action if they “walk by” and ignore poor patient care by other doctors or health professionals, under new General Medical Council guidelines coming into force today.
Doctors could face disciplinary action if they “walk by” and ignore poor patient care by other doctors or health professionals Photo: ALAMY
1:33PM GMT 12 Mar 2012
Chief executive Niall Dickson said it followed examples such as the scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where up to 1,200 “excess deaths” occurred due to poor care.
While some doctors did report their concerns, others “walked by on the other side of the ward”, he said.
“Doctors have an obligation to raise these concerns when they see things are going wrong,” Mr Dickson added.
He said the new rules were intended to foster a “culture of openness” in which raising concerns was not just a matter of “heroic” whistleblowing but should be an every day part of working in the health service.
Mr Dickson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the guidance was meant to be “more carrot than stick” but that it was “guidance with teeth”.
“Doctors who persistently and seriously depart from this guidance will find themselves possibly with their careers at risk.”
He added: “You can look at examples at the Mid Staffs inquiry, where although some doctors did raise concerns, it is also clear that many doctors didn’t raise concerns, that in a sense they walked by on the other side of the ward.
“That’s not to say that the medical care itself may have been bad, it may have been bad care by other care professionals, but our advice is that doctors have a wider responsibility.
“They have a responsibility not just for the care they give, themselves, but also for ensuring the entire welfare of patients and that includes care provided by other doctors but also care provided by other professionals
“They have an obligation to raise concerns when they have them, and doctors who are in management positions also have a responsibility to act when those concerns are raised.”
The new guidance also bans doctors from signing contracts with gagging clauses that attempt to prevent them from reporting problems to the GMC or other regulators such as the Care Quality Commission.
Mr Dickson said there were “odd” examples of such contracts which appeared to have resulted when “HR departments get some advice from lawyers” to “absolutely seal this thing up”.
He added: “What we want to encourage across the health service and indeed the private sector is a culture of openness where people feel that raising concerns is not just about whistleblowing.
“It is not just about an heroic act, it should be part of every day culture. That’s the only way in which patients will be protected.”
Pagalavan's Avatar 
Something not right with MMC
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/03/16/something-not-right-with-mmc/
I wholeheartedly agree that a doctor is culpable when they don’t report an impaired colleague. I recommend people reading ‘Sick To Death’ by Thomas Hedley, which outlines the misadventures of Dr Jayant Patel, a surgeon in Bundaberg, Australia.
Unfortunately, reform is needed in the MMC before we can place faith in that institution. Too much influence is wielded by the public universities in MMC. The majority of council members should be elected by the doctors, with some members appointed by the govt to represent universities, GPs, lay-people (usually a lawyer), etc.
[…] already an independent strict body in monitoring the practice of doctors. In March 2012, I wrote THIS where the GMC had warned that doctors will face stern action for ignoring poor care. It basically […]