Committee To Discuss Bill To Reform Medical Profession

The Oireachtas health committee is meeting this week to discuss new legislation aimed at reforming the way the medical profession is regulated. Under the proposed Medical Practitioners Bill, a majority of members of the Medical Council will be lay people rather than doctors.

The legislation also sets up a registration process for doctors and introduces stronger sanctions for professional misconduct.

The issue of accountability among doctors has been in the public eye recently due to the controversy surrounding Drogheda obstetrician Michael Neary, who was struck off the register a number of years ago for unnecessarily removing the wombs of dozens of his patients.