Candidate profiles: Council elections get going

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Specialist Division — Anaesthesia</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Suzanne Crowe (Registration number: 19051)</strong>

Dr Suzanne Crowe is a Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care Medicine at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin (OLCHC), where she is Medical Director of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Originally from Bray, Co Wicklow, Dr Crowe qualified from Trinity College Dublin in 1995 and after interning in the Meath and Adelaide Hospitals, commenced postgraduate training in anaesthesia with the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland. She was a Fellow in Paediatric Intensive Care at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

Her clinical and academic interests are in bereavement studies, palliative care in PICU and compassion fatigue. She is a Clinical Tutor for the College of Anaesthetists.

“I hope to bring my experience of communication and mediation with families in stressful situations to my work in the Medical Council, where I would like to contribute to both the promotion of safe medical care for patients and advocacy for the role of the medical practitioner,” stated Dr Crowe.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Prof Ellen O’Sullivan (Registration number: 17468)</strong>

A University College Cork (UCC) graduate, Prof Ellen O’Sullivan trained in the UK and US. She returned to Ireland to become a Consultant Anaesthetist at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, in 1999. Prof O’Sullivan served as President of the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland in 2012 and is currently Chair of the Forum of Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies.

She is a past-President of the Difficult Airway Society (UK and Ireland), one of the largest specialist societies worldwide, and was appointed a Clinical Professor of Anaesthesia in 2015.

“I have a strong track record in successful delivery of innovative solutions to highly complex strategic projects. I am an active clinician, educator and strategic leader in medicine at local, national and international level,” stated Prof O’Sullivan.

“If elected, I would continue to work tirelessly to improve training quality, patient safety and professional standards, whilst striving to ensure that doctors have a voice in the important decisions that face our profession.”

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Eleanor O’Leary (Registration Number: 778)</strong>

Dr Eleanor O’Leary has been a Consultant Anaesthetist in Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, since January 2010. Dr O’Leary was previously based in Galway University Hospitals between July 1996 and December 2009. She was Consultant Anaesthetist/Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, from July 1995 to June 1996. Dr O’Leary was Council Member at the College of Anaesthetists between 2005 and 2008 and Vice-Dean and Director of Training at the College between 2008 and 2014.

“I believe the Medical Council should both protect the public and support doctors,” stated Dr O’Leary.

“We all believe poorly-performing doctors should be held to account, but this should not be by way of harassment of the profession. There is a balance to be struck between fairness and trial by media,” outlined Dr O’Leary.

“A disciplinary process should exist within hospitals in conjunction with training bodies to deal with complaints against non-consultant hospital doctors in the first instance. Poor professional performance should be investigated by college competency schemes. Referral to the Medical Council should only occur in the gravest of circumstances.”

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Specialist Division — Obstetrics and Gynaecology</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Mary Catherine Therese Doyle (Registration number: 4345)</strong>

After senior registrar training in Dublin, Dr Mary Catherine Therese Doyle (who is generally known as Dr Miriam Doyle) was entered onto the Specialist Register in 2000. Dr Doyle’s first consultant post was in 2001 as a locum consultant at Bon Secours Hospital, Cork. Between September 2001 and April 2004, Dr Doyle was employed as a temporary Consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. From May 2004 to March 2005, Dr Doyle was Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Cavan General Hospital, and since 2005, she has worked as Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise.

“Doctors are very concerned about how the Medical Council functions in relation to complaint management,” stated Dr Doyle.

“Legislative change is desirable, but I believe that change can be effected within the current framework to improve the situation for doctors.”

<h3 class=”subhead2MIstyles”>Dr Aoife Mullally (Registration number: 23115)</h3>

Dr Aoife Mullally is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Dublin, and Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1999 and completed Higher Specialist Training in the north of England before returning to Ireland. As Clinical Lead for the labour ward in the Coombe, her interests include management of high-risk labour and birth, as well as early pregnancy complications and adolescent gynaecology. According to the biographical information, Dr Mullally is proud to work in a specialty which provides excellent care for women, infants and their families, but she is also extremely conscious of the impact of a continuous negative media narrative, both on those working in the specialty and on women and families who access services.

Dr Mullally believes that the Medical Council should be committed to supporting doctors throughout their careers, promoting training and life-long learning and maintaining public confidence in the medical profession.

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Specialist Division — Public Health Medicine</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Anthony Breslin (Registration number: 11124)</strong>

Dr Anthony Breslin, who is a member of the current Council, is a Specialist in Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health in the north west. Regarding his work with the current Medical Council, Dr Breslin says his main achievements are: Reducing the registration fee for the first three years of registration; removing the requirement for doctors cleared of complaints to have their CPD audited for five years; removing the requirement for doctors to have full CPD points if they were off work due to illness, maternity leave, leave of absence, etc, and introducing a faster process for managing minor complaints and non-complaints to ease stress on doctors.

“Despite the above, managing complaints needs more work and minor or non-complaints still take too much time to process,” according to Dr Breslin.

“One of the important issues the next Council has to address is the retention of junior doctors.”

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Paul Quigley (Registration number: 2191)</strong>

Dr Paul Quigley qualified from University College Dublin in 1975. He developed an interest in public health medicine during his clinical work with Native American and West Indian patients. He trained in the UK as a specialist in public health medicine and was a temporary Consultant to the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Office on primary healthcare for disadvantaged urban populations. Dr Quigley has been employed in the HSE’s Social Inclusion and Addiction services since 1998.

According to his biographical information, he recently obtained a court injunction restraining the HSE from retiring him compulsorily on age grounds, and continues to highlight problems in the healthcare management environment.

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Registered medical practitioner, not being a consultant, practising medicine in a hospital</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Erica Maguire (Registration number: 411015)</strong>

Dr Erica Maguire is an NCHD currently on the basic specialist training scheme in psychiatry. Dr Maguire came to medicine via the graduate entry route, after working as a barrister for four years.

She is seeking election to the Medical Council with the following areas of particular concern: Practitioner mental health, peer support and how this can be safeguarded, particularly for trainees; the impact of professional misconduct proceedings on NCHDs and the lack of medico-legal training NCHDs receive; and the significant financial burden on Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) graduates. Dr Maguire says she is hoping to be a voice on the Council for her NCHD colleagues.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Michael Ita (Registration number: 407576)</strong>

Dr Michael Ita graduated from the University of Pécs Medical School, Hungary, in 2012. He has worked as an NCHD in the Irish health service since July 2013. According to his biographical information, Dr Ita has a keen interest in basic and clinical neuroscience and holds a Masters of Science Degree in Neuropharmacology from NUI Galway. He is currently a Research Registrar and Clinical Tutor in the Department of Academic Surgery, Cork University Hospital, working on the topic of biomarkers of disease progression and response to monoclonal antibody therapy in a preclinical model of melanoma brain metastasis.

He has an active interest in NCHD issues, including postgraduate medical education, opportunities for NCHD clinical training and career progression.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Tashfeen Siddiq Ali (Registration number: 402150)</strong>

Dr Tashfeen Siddiq Ali is an emergency physician who graduated from the King Edward Medical University, Pakistan. He started his career in emergency medicine in 2011 and is currently working as a specialist registrar in emergency medicine at Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore. He is a member of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, UK. His special interest includes critical care, trauma, simulation teaching and quality improvement in medicine.

He is an advanced trauma life support (ATLS) instructor. According to his biography, he is best known for his “ground-breaking work in establishing an <em>in situ</em> simulation teaching programme and first seizure outpatient care pathway in the emergency department of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital”.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Eamon Francis (Registration number: 371688)</strong>

Dr Eamon Francis graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2010 with an honours degree and the Arthur Ball and Seton Pringle prizes in surgery. He is currently a third-year specialist registrar in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery.

Dr Francis is Chair of the Irish Surgical Training Group (ISTG) representing all surgeons in training nationally.

“I am interested in medical ethics, particularly in relation to professionals who practise surgery,” according to Dr Francis.

“The regulation of surgical practice, in particular aesthetic/cosmetic surgery, is of significant concern to me, to safeguard a potentially vulnerable patient population.”

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Registered medical practitioner, not falling within any of the other categories</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Roy Mark Browne (Registration number: 12635)</strong>

Qualified from RCSI in 1988, Dr Roy Mark Browne is currently a Consultant Psychiatrist providing psychiatric intensive care services. He is also a Council Member and past Vice President of the IHCA.

His previous positions include Executive Clinical Director of Psychiatry in Dublin North City.

“I would hope to represent all disciplines and all grades of doctor on the Medical Council,” stated Dr Browne.

“The importance of ongoing communication and mutual respect between regulatory body and clinicians cannot be overstated. It is my hope to provide a strong link between the clinicians who often struggle with providing the best quality of care with limited resources and the regulatory body, which in the past has at times distanced itself from the realities of a system starved of resources.”

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Dawar Mahmood Siddiqi (Registration number: 18116)</strong>

A graduate of the University of the Punjab, Pakistan, Dr Dawar Mahmood Siddiqi was a Consultant Radiologist at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, and undertook further training in the UK before moving to Saudi Arabia, where he worked at a number of hospitals in Riyadh, including National Guard Hospital and King Fahd Medical City. He returned to Ireland in 2013, having worked at University Hospital Limerick in 1994.

“I have the experience of working as Head of Radiology Services for three years in Pakistan and eight years while working in Saudi Arabia. During my stay there, I developed policy, procedures and guidelines for the staff and patient services.”

He believes that the policy and procedures of the Medical Council are such that if a complaint is made against a doctor, he or she “is considered guilty unless proved otherwise, rather than the opposite”.

“I request all of you to vote for me so that I can raise a voice of doctors in the Medical Council to make changes in the above outdated practices for the sake of safe delivery of healthcare as well as [to] regain the respect of the medical profession in Ireland,” he says.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Sohail Rasool (Registration number: 16781)</strong>

Dr Sohail Rasool has 22 years of experience in the Irish health system. Six years have been spent with the HSE in different clinical specialities, and more than 16 years in general practice, custodial settings, out-of-hours urgent family services (GP co-op), sexual assault treatment units (SATU) and sexually-transmitted disease (STD) clinics.

Dr Rasool holds an MA in Healthcare Management (Institute of Public Administration) and MSc in Forensic Medicine from University College Dublin.

“I will be honoured and privileged if I were given the opportunity to serve this term in representing my colleagues,” according to Dr Rasool. “I believe in fair and equal representation for all medical professionals.”

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Shane O’Hanlon (Registration number: 188795)</strong>

Dr Shane O’Hanlon is a Consultant Physician and Geriatrician at St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, and St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin. He also holds a first-class honours law degree. He has held several roles at University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School, including Clinical Skills Tutor and Lead for Professional Competencies. He also spent four years in the UK, where he was appointed Honorary Secretary of the British Geriatrics Society after a national election.

“I am a strong proponent of no-fault systems, transparency and learning from error. Fairness, respect and dignity should be guaranteed to all involved,” says Dr O’Hanlon.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Mousumi Dunne (Registration number: 23439)</strong>

Dr Mousumi (Sumi) Dunne is a graduate of the University of Southampton, UK, and has been based in the Republic of Ireland since 1999. She had a background in neonatal intensive care and emergency department paediatrics before undertaking specialist training in general practice. She had been a Member of the ICGP since 2006. Since then, she has maintained both an academic and clinical career in general practice, working as a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of General Practice, RCSI, and as a GP in Portarlington, Co Laois.

According to her biographical information, she aims to represent clinicians in practice and believes there is a pressing need to restore faith in the current regulatory process whilst prioritising both patient and doctor safety. She is also keen to explore processes of robust mentorship for doctors from graduation to retirement.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Malachy Gerard Coleman (Registration number: 3464)</strong>

Dr Malachy Gerard Coleman graduated from University College Dublin in 1979 and has worked as a GP in Waterford for the past 35 years. While he holds postgraduate qualifications in forensic and aviation medicine, his main interest has always been in general practice.

“It is very important that this experience, gained over many years, be made available to the Medical Council and I feel that I can represent my specialty as an enthusiastic member of the Council,” according to Dr Coleman.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Marcus De Brun (Registration number: 128888)</strong>

Dr Marcus De Brun opened a general practice in Rush, Co Dublin, where he works as a single-handed GP. Dr De Brun has also completed a degree in microbiology at Trinity College, Dublin.

According to his biographical information, in 2017, he was “hauled before a public FTP [Fitness to Practise] hearing for refusing to participate in an Irish Medical Council [performance] assessment scheme. The Irish Medical Council case against me failed; no findings were made against me. The process was the most difficult of my professional life.

“Relations between doctors and the Irish Medical Councll might be described as ‘predator/prey’. This is highlighted by public hearings and the current administration of the 2007 Act, which encourages defensive medicine and a lack of public confidence in the profession as a whole.”

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Cormac Duff (Registration number: 417089)</strong>

Biography was unavailable at time of going to press.

<p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Eleanor Mary Corcoran (Registration Number: 3617)</strong>

Dr Eleanor Mary Corcoran has worked for more than 30 years in the practice of psychiatry. According to her biographical information, she entered psychiatry with broad previous relevant training and experience in general medicine, neurology, cardiology and as a clinical lecturer in geriatric medicine.

Dr Corcoran has worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in Donegal Mental Health Service, where her special interests included suicide prevention and the mental health of Travellers.

“Patient safety and risk management by effective teamwork and good communication and service organisation have always been of paramount importance,” says Dr Corcoran.

She moved to Dublin in 2014 and, having retired from her substantive post in Donegal, currently works as a Consultant in the Psychiatry of Old Age in north Dublin, providing a community-based service.

<div> <h3 class=”SUBHEADBULLETLISTMIstyles”>Specialist Division — pathology or radiology</h3> </div> <p class=”subhead2MIstyles”><strong>Dr Thomas Crotty (Registration number: 009645)</strong>

Having been the only candidate nominated in this category, the returning officer has deemed Dr Thomas Crotty elected to the Medical Council, subject to appointment by the Minister for Health.