Xinyu Addae-Lee | Is the Medical Council ready to rumble?

The Medical Council of Jamaica (MCJ) serves as the primary regulatory body responsible for ensuring the competence, professionalism, and ethical conduct of medical practitioners in Jamaica. By enforcing regulations, investigating complaints, and maintaining a high standard of care, the MCJ plays a crucial role in both protecting the public and upholding the integrity of the medical profession.

ALL TALK, NO ACTION

However, as a medical student and medical doctor, I have not heard much of them or from them. I can’t help but compare this to my first year at the Faculty of Law at The University of the West Indies. One of the first things I heard about was “Saturday court”. What is ‘Saturday court’, you ask? Well, that is when the General Legal Council (GLC) hears matters relating to complaints against practising attorneys.

This was a repetitive warning throughout my time at the faculty and then later at the Norman Manley Law School. We were advised that it is not if you/we attend Saturday court, it’s when. And we were warned gravely that, should we operate outside of our Canons of Professional Ethics, we would most certainly be disbarred.

Speaking of the Canons of Professional Ethics, we studied it, we looked at cases in which practising attorneys fell short, and we learned from them and sat an exam to prove our knowledge and understanding. As you probably already guessed, we did no such thing during medical school.

Sadly, we embarked on taking on one of the greatest responsibilities in society without any exposure or emphasis on the necessary ethical guardrails in place. We were not made aware of the power of the MCJ, we not warned to be cautious and careful, there was no effort to drive a healthy fear into us, perhaps because the MCJ has been a figure head for many years.

I didn’t want to make such a claim without looking at the evidence. Have they been working in the background, protecting the public from negligent and unskilled doctors? Have they been using their power to suspend doctors, de-register doctors, and refusing to register doctors? Well, less than a year ago, I checked their website and found that they had no register of doctors on their website.

STARK CONTRAST

This again is a stark contrast to the GLC, because they maintain an updated list where you can check your attorneys’ status to ensure that they indeed have a licence to practise law in Jamaica. But, without a published list of medical doctors, one cannot protect themselves unless they ask the doctor to show them their current practising certificate (which I strongly recommend).

I also came across a document published by a user on Twitter (what X was then known as), from the MCJ and dated July 15, 2019, outlining the cases reported to the council for the previous 10 years. The total amount was 235. Of these complaints, only five were investigated. And, of the five, one doctor was struck off for one year of practice, one doctor was asked to refund a patient with interest, one was awaiting the result of an appeal in court, one had no case to answer, and one case from 2012 was awaiting completion of appeal against findings (in 2019). If this document is authentic, I would have to say it is less than comforting.

If you look on the GLC website, you can browse the judgments and see where tens of attorneys are disciplined each year. The reasoning for the decisions made is made available to the public, the process is transparent and reassuring. Why do we have so few complaints and even fewer investigations and sanctions? Is it because doctors are more ethical than lawyers? Is it because our doctors are not negligent or reckless in their practice of medicine? Or is it because the Medical Council is failing to do their job in, raising public awareness, intervening proactively in matters of concern and sanctioning those who are to be sanctioned?

As a matter of fact, I would like to hear the views of the MCJ on the matter concerning restricting caregivers from staying with children admitted in our public hospitals. This is a well-needed perspective, as they are the gate keepers of ethical medical practice in Jamaica.

A NEW HORIZON

Having said all that, I have noted that the MCJ has made some changes! A new chairman, a new board and a new website! This website comes complete with a list of all the registered doctors in Jamaica (however, I am not sure if it is up to date, because the last registration date is missing). I also took note of an article they published reporting on the last actions taken by the board to suspend a surgeon for six months, this was as recent as May 24, 2024. I am a realist but an optimistic one.

This is progress! Transparency and public condemnation give me a confidence that, should I be wronged, I have an avenue to seek justice. It informs my conscience that there is a system that works, that someone will do for me what I cannot do, and the weapons the board have been given will not be laid down for the mercy of the doctor but instead be raised for the protection of the public! This is a far cry from the past decade.

The MCJ can’t make a difference unless we all do our part. Patients must be determined to report instances of negligence and unethical behaviours of doctors they have encountered. Now, I don’t mean for anyone to bombard the board with issues relating to personality or administrative issues, but truly indigent cases such as: harm, injury or death as a result of misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication errors, lack of consent, sexual misconduct, discrimination and fraud.

Doctors need to be ready to report these instances, too, to ensure that we are doing our part to make certain that our colleagues are maintaining the ethical and professional standards that our profession demands.

Process for Bringing a Complaint Before the MCJ

The MCJ has made the process of reporting a doctor much easier. They have provided a form which can be completed and submitted through the website. However, it is very difficult to find! So, I took the liberty of sharing the URL: https://medicalcouncilja.com/complaints/form/.

I believe this is a step in the right direction. However, let’s not get too optimistic and fail to ensure that we do our part in following up once we have in fact laid a complaint.

We, as a people, need to stay active and engaged to ensure that the MCJ is indeed working for us. If they do their part, as we do ours, it will go a far way to save life and limb and protect the public from all forms of abuse. Let’s get ready to rumble!

Dr Xinyu Addae-Lee is a medical doctor and attorney-at-law. Send feedback to services@jaxinja.com and columns@gleanerjm.com