Under section 118 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 the Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) is responsible for setting “standards of clinical competence, cultural competence and ethical conduct” for doctors. In 1998 the Medical Council developed Good Medical Practice to be the foundation document for the standards they set…
Good Medical Practice aims to outline the duties of a good doctor in a simple and direct manner. It is intended to help doctors to monitor their own conduct and the conduct of their colleagues. It is also intended to serve as a source of education and reflection for medical students. The Council are also aware that it is often referred to by patients who are uncertain about the quality of care they have received. They have tried to make the resource accessible to all of these groups, and endeavoured to ensure that the standards outlined are clear and easy to follow.
Good Medical Practice also has another important function. It is often used as a standard against which professional conduct is measured. It is used by the Health Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal, the Council’s Professional Conduct Committees and the Health and Disability Commissioner in determining whether a doctor has acted appropriately or not. The advice it contains therefore needs to establish a clear line in the sand against which conduct can be measured.
Good Medical Practice was last reviewed in 2006. The Council is seeking feedback from doctors, patients and other agencies engaged in the regulation and practise of medicine on this resource, and on changes that they are proposing to make.
While the Council believes that Good Medical Practice remains useful and relevant, they also think that it could be improved in a number of ways. They are seeking your comments on the proposed changes, and also your responses to a number of specific questions.
Quite a few of these changes they propose are minor, but a number outline new or different standards. The Council appreciates that your time is precious, so have tried to summarise the most important changes in a consultation paper. However, if you do have the time they would also encourage you to review both the consultation paper and a complete copy of the draft Good Medical Practice that includes details of all of the suggested changes.
Download Good Medical Practice Consultation paper
Download draft Good Medical Practice
Please send your comments to Michael Thorn, the Council’s senior policy adviser and researcher by 12 October 2012. You can either complete the questions in the consultation paper or in the complete copy of the draft Good Medical Practice and send your responses to Michael at mthorn@mcnz.org.nz or post it to:
Michael Thorn
Senior Policy Adviser and Researcher
Medical Council of New Zealand
PO Box 11-649
Willis Street
Wellington 6011
Please also feel free to send Michael any other comments or suggestions you have about Good Medical Practice.
