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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.