A FAR higher proportion of doctors who graduated outside Ireland are appearing before Medical Council fitness to practise inquiries than those who graduated from Irish medical schools.
Of the 36 fitness to practise inquiries heard in public and private last year, 22 involved non-Irish graduates and 14 of the doctors were Irish graduates.
Of 19 inquiries heard in public so far this year, 14 involved non-Irish graduates.
Additional fitness to practise inquiries this year were heard in private, either because they came under old legislation or a participant was granted an application to be heard in private. The Medical Council has not yet released data on the private inquiries.
Irish graduate doctors made up 65 per cent, or 18,770, of the doctors registered to practise in Ireland at the beginning of 2011. Those who graduated from medical schools outside Ireland made up 35 per cent, or 6,570, of those registered to practise.
While 0.1 per cent of Irish graduates appeared before a fitness to practise inquiry, 0.3 per cent of those trained in other countries came before inquiries.
Fitness to practise inquiries began to be heard in public in April 2009, following the introduction of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007.
The majority, 25 of 28, that year were held in private and all three held in public involved doctors who graduated abroad.
Concerns about the over-representation of non-Irish graduate doctors before fitness to practise inquiries have been raised by practitioners and patient groups.
In a recent fitness to practise hearing, senior consultant obstetrician Dr Seosamh Ó Coigligh, from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, voiced his concerns.
He was giving evidence in the case of Belarus-trained Dr Alabi Emmanuel Gbaedbo, who was employed at the Drogheda hospital.
Dr Gbaedbo had difficulties with suturing, cannulas and other basic procedures and was unable to identify the appropriate measures to take when common obstetrical problems arose. He also displayed problems with note-taking and writing prescriptions.
Dr Ó Coigligh said his case raised issues about whether the medical training being provided to doctors in certain countries left them “fit for purpose”.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Sheila O’Connor, of advocacy group Patient Focus, said she was concerned that the majority of doctors appearing at fitness to practise inquiries held in public were non-Irish.
She said questions needed to be asked about why it was easier to “go after a doctor from Poland”, then proceed “against your own elite”.
“I do know foreign-trained doctors feel more vulnerable in the system and Irish doctors are quicker to raise issues about foreign doctors,” she said.
“It is human nature that it is easier to take issue with someone who is not like ourselves.”
She acknowledged there could also be an element of “taking in doctors who are less qualified”, but given the figures involved, she felt there was a “reasonable inference that there is bias operating”.
“I do think we need to examine how this system is working,” she said.
Asked about why more doctors who graduated abroad have appeared before fitness to practise committees, the Medical Council said it was too early to speculate.
A spokeswoman said the 2010 figures provided a baseline.
“However, we will need to build up data for a number of years before we can determine whether doctors in a certain age group, doctors working in a specific speciality, or doctors who qualified in a certain part of the world are more likely to be involved in fitness to practise inquiries,” she said.
She also said she could not confirm figures for 2011 as “a number of inquiries were held in private”. Full-year statistics would be released after the end of the year to allow for comparison with last year, she said.
The Irish Medical Organisation, which has an overseas doctors’ committee, declined to comment, saying it was a Medical Council issue.
