Straits Times senior health correspondent Salma Khalik has rightly diagnosed the ailments afflicting the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) (Medical watchdog body needs to move out of slow lane, July 16). As the legal maxim usually attributed to British politician William Ewart Gladstone goes, justice delayed is justice denied.

Sir Donald Irvine, who was president of the General Medical Council (GMC) in Britain, once said that the self-regulation of the medical profession is a privilege, not a right.

The GMC's website says that it will reply to complaints within two weeks, and if an investigation is deemed necessary, the GMC aims to complete all investigations within 12 months.

The SMC should act expeditiously in dealing with complaints against doctors, because any delay will bring mental distress to innocent doctors, and patients who suffered harm at the hands of incompetent doctors will feel that justice and compensation are elusive.

Heng Cho Choon