Senior doctors at risk for management failures

“senior doctors at risk for management failures; sent to a living hell”

“The professional misconduct charge against Dr Tom O’Flynn shows how at risk and vulnerable senior doctors are over management failures,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. The charge has been dismissed by the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal with Dr O’Flynn exonerated.

“It is a damming indictment of the present system that Dr O’Flynn was being expected to work the equivalent of 2.3 full-time positions. Many other senior doctors are also overworked and left unsupported. And yet it is senior doctors who will be hauled over the hot coals if tragedies occur. Those that put them in this untenable position have no accountability and are left ‘scot-free’.”

“The case is also an important reminder that senior doctors must be centrally involved in the appointment process for positions such as psychiatry in order to reduce the risk of unsuitable appointments such as Dr Fisher.”

“We need to consider the fairness of having a rigorous and stressful disciplinary process for those who are put in untenable situations but not having one for those who put them there. Soldiers should not be put at risk by the actions of their unaccountable generals.”

“It is excellent that Dr O’Flynn has been exonerated but the cost for senior doctors in this situation has been a living hell,” concluded Mr Powell.

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