Errant doctors will face tougher penalties under proposed changes to the Medical Registration Act, which will also provide new recourse for complaints. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
ERRANT doctors will face tougher penalties under proposed changes to the Medical Registration Act, which will also provide new recourse for complaints.
The Act, last amended in December 2002, governs the registration of medical practitioners and regulates the conduct and ethics of doctors.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is proposing a slew of changes to the Act, including stricter disciplinary action for errant doctors, giving more powers for the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) to approve or cancel the registration of new doctors and the setting up of a register for family physicians.
Under the proposed change, doctors can be fined up to $100,000 - up from the current $10,000.
The cap of three years restriction on a doctor's practice convicted of professional misconduct will also be removed to give the Disciplinary Tribunal greater scope to impose effective and proportionate sentences.
The Health Committee will also be able to impose longer-term restrictions on doctors whose fitness to practise is medically impaired.
SMC's disciplinary committee, which will be renamed to the Disciplinary Tribunal, will be chaired by a senior doctor with an option of appointing a judge, a legal officer or senior lawyer as chairperson.
Currently, only doctors convicted by a Disciplinary Committee may appeal to the High Court against its decision. With the proposed amendments, aggrieved complainants can also appeal to the High Court against the Disciplinary Tribunal's decisions.
The SMC's complaints committees will also be allowed to appoint officers to investigate complaints so that complaints without merit can be more quickly disposed of and more serious cases can be established in greater details.
A register of family physicians will also be set up to recognise doctors who have had some postgraduate training equipping them with the knowledge on how to care for people suffering from multiple chronic problems.
The changes will also open the door to doctors from diverse sources with different skills and training as the SMC will be allowed to register them.
MOH will be conducting a six-week public consultation - from Jan 14 to Feb 25 - to obtain feedback on the proposed MRA amendments.
