Irish Medical Council

The Medical Council (Irish: Comhairle na nDochtúirí Leighis) is the regulator of the medical profession in Ireland. It maintains the register of medical practitioners licensed to practice, and has the power to place restrictions on or revoke such licences, in cases of questions about a doctor's fitness to practise. As of 2016^[update] the president of the Council was Professor Freddie Wood, and its chief executive officer was Bill Prasifka.

The objective of the Medical Council is to protect the public by promoting and better ensuring high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among registered medical practitioners.

The Council was established by the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 and commenced operation in April 1979. It replaced an earlier body, the Medical Registration Council, which had been established under the provisions of the Medical Practitioners Act 1927, and which took over certain functions from the General Medical Council (the medical regulator for the United Kingdom).

The principal functions of the Medical Council include:

Managing the register of doctors

The Council maintains a publicly accessible searchable database of registered doctors with their qualifications.

Lifelong learning and skills development

In May 2011 the Medical Council introduced requirements for all registered doctors to maintain their professional competence, making it a legal duty to engage in formal arrangements for lifelong learning and skills development. The Council oversees doctors to ensure that they fulfil this duty.

Handling complaints

Anyone can make a complaint against a doctor to the Medical Council. The Council then begins the formal complaint procedure by forwarding it to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the Medical Council, which considers all complaints made to the Council. After the Committee receives enough information about the complaint it then decides whether to take further action. If so, the complaint is referred to the Fitness to Practise Committee for a Fitness to Practise inquiry. Alternatively, the Council could decide to take no further action, refer the complaint to another body or authority, or for mediation, or could refer the doctor for a performance assessment.

Setting ethical standards

The Medical Council gives guidance on all matters related to professional conduct and ethics for registered doctors.

...
Wikipedia