The Medical Council’s tangible recognition of the impact that its processes can have on doctors and the public is a notable step forward.
Earlier this month the Council launched CAREhub. It is an external mental health support service for doctors, medical students, and the public who are engaged with its regulatory processes. While the free, confidential 24/7 service is open to doctors at any stage or circumstance, the stress associated with the Council’s complaints process is an important reason for its development.
The Medical Council and the external provider of CAREhub (Lyra Health International) have emphasised that the service is confidential and that no personal information will be shared between the two parties. Further information about the initiative is available at the following link: www.medicalcouncil.ie/public-information/carehub/.
CAREhub is a key strand of the Council’s new liaison and support services framework, which also includes a centralised support centre to help address queries more efficiently. These developments are all part of its efforts to develop a more empathetic approach, while maintaining professional standards.
In June, a survey by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) illustrated the effects on doctors who are subject to a Medical Council investigation. More than three-quarters said the investigation had a detrimental impact on their mental health and 93 per cent said it caused stress and anxiety. Nearly a quarter considered quitting medicine due to the investigation, whilst one-in-10 either left medicine or retired early. Twelve per cent also reported experiencing suicidal thoughts during the investigation.
The length of the investigation (with some lasting several years) and the tone of the communications from the Medical Council were raised as major stressors by the survey respondents.
Doctors commenting anonymously spoke of feeling “guilty until proven innocent”, whilst others described Medical Council correspondence as “cold”, “legalistic”, and “hard to understand”.
MPS informed the Medical Independent that the launch of CAREhub is “a significant development” and it hopes this will be accompanied by “further improvements and changes to the tone of Medical Council communications”.
An MPS spokesperson said its engagements with the Council have been constructive.
MPS believes the Medical Council should conduct a review of the length of proceedings for regulatory investigations and report the findings. It also wants the new Government to commence provisions in the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 that will allow some complaints to be concluded more swiftly. Currently, the Council expects these legal provisions to be commenced in the new year.
The Medical Council has said the MPS survey findings will continue to inform some of the changes it will implement as part of the new complaints framework.
As part of its new approach, the Council should also release data on the length of investigations and the relative contributing factors (for example, as part of its annual reports). Length of investigations is an important key performance indicator, which can have a very profound impact on people’s lives, even if some of the contributing factors are outside of the regulator’s control.
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