http://support.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=657415&issue_id=6560
Irish Independent
December 15, 2001
Probe into GPs conduct costs medical body £m
Eilish O'Regan, Health Correspondent
The
inquiry into allegations of professional misconduct against retired GP, Dr
Moira Woods, has cost the Medical Council close to £500,000, it emerged
yesterday.
The inquiry is believed to have found Dr Woods guilty of professional
misconduct following complaints by the parents of five families that she
wrongfully accused them of sexually abusing their children in the 1980s.
President of the Medical Council, Prof Gerard Bury, said yesterday a full meeting
of the Council will consider the inquiry report next month. The Council has
refused to comment on the findings of the inquiry.
Speaking after yesterday's end-of-year meeting, Prof Bury said the financial
implications of the Woods case have not yet been worked out, but such
disciplinary inquiries cost the self-financing body £11,000 for each day's
hearing.
The families involved are angry that they will have to wait until January to
find out if the report will be published. They believed they were due to
receive an answer on Thursday night. To date, only the Fitness to Practise
Committee of the Council and lawyers for Dr Woods have seen the report.
Speaking generally, Prof Bury said the Council can impose a number of sanctions
on a doctor who is found guilty of professional misconduct, including censure
or removal from the Medical Register. The doctor in question has 21 days to
appeal the penalty in the High Court, he said.