Asia Update
More local presenters join the Asian education team
MPS has recruited local health professionals for its risk management and education services in Asia. Four doctors have undergone extensive training and been accredited as presenters in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Dr Thirumoorthy works as a dermatologist at the Specialist Skin Clinic and the Singapore General Hospital. He was the founding director of the Singapore Medical Association Centre for Medical Ethics and Professionalism (SMA CMEP). For his contributions in this area, he was awarded the SMA Merit Award in 2004.
Dr Peter Loke CW MB BCh BAO, LLB (Hons), MA (Healthcare Ethics & Law), FCIArb, FSIArb
Dr Loke is a partner at Mission Medical Clinic, a family medicine practice, and is also regional medical adviser for the multinational agribusiness Syngenta, looking into occupational, public health and toxicological issues related to agrochemicals.
Dr Andy Kit Ying Cheung MBBS, DCH, DFM (CUHK), FHKCFP, FRACGP, FHKAM (Family Medicine), MSocSc (Couns) South Australia
Dr Cheung is a family physician in private practice, adjunct associate professor in family medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and honorary assistant professor in family medicine at the University of Hong Kong.
Dr Justin Cheng MBBS, PGDipSEM (Bath), FRCSEd (Orth), FHKCOS, FHKAM (Orthopaedic Surgery), CIME
Dr Cheng is a specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology in Hong Kong and a Certified Independent Medical Examiner(CIME) of the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners.
Singapore: National Health Survey to begin
The Ministry of Health (MOH) will conduct its National Health Survey of all Singaporeans between March and June 2010. It is designed to measure the population’s health status with regards to major health problems in the country – diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and associated risk factors such as smoking and obesity. The survey will also include a nutrition study. The results of the survey will be used to measure the progress being made towards national health targets.
The MOH was due to select participants for the survey during last November and December.
New educational workshop launches
MPS has launched the second in its series of risk management workshops, called Mastering Adverse Outcomes. This workshop takes a comprehensive approach to the difficult area of discussing adverse outcomes with patients.
There is a natural inclination to want to avoid such discussions – whether there is negligence or even natural causes involved – for fear of strong emotions from the patient, causing the patient distress, or even loss of professional reputation. The workshop provides a thorough grounding on the issues, the legal obligations and implications of these discussions.
Members in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong will have an opportunity to attend this workshop from early to mid-2010. All doctors will be contacted via direct mail with details of dates, times and venues as well as instructions on how to register. If you have any enquiries about these workshops please email us.
Singapore: Cosmetic promotion
Following on from the recent activity regarding guidelines for aesthetic procedures in Singapore, MPS would like to draw members’ attention to current legislation on promoting such activities. Doctors are advised against aggressively promoting services that offer cosmetic treatments, in a manner that may be deemed as soliciting. The Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act advertising guidelines and the SMC Ethical Code and Guidelines warn against such robust advertising.
This includes such practices as promotions for credit card discount schemes, the use of advertorials (in particular, disguising them as journal review articles), and pushing non-essential services and procedures at the elderly, vulnerable groups and the poor. In the UK, MPS has been involved – in an advisory capacity – in an intercollegiate committee set up to look into self-regulation of aesthetic practice in the UK. This has now borne fruit, with the formation of the British Academy of Cosmetic Practice.