Junior Doctor: Volume 1, issue 2 [October 2010]
Welcome
Welcome to the new edition of Junior Doctor. In our last issue, we asked for readers to contribute their ideas and articles and the response has been fantastic: as a result, three readers – Dr Helet Potgieter, Dr Ronnie Abraham and Dr Paulo Pinheiro – share their varied experiences of working at home in South Africa and abroad. Their stories have helped to bring important medicolegal issues alive, so please keep contacting us with your ideas and experiences.
You may be aware that government regulations governing indemnity insurance have recently been published. The regulations certainly came as a surprise. MPS fully supports the principles behind the regulations but the way they are drafted causes us concern. As the regulations stand, they would prevent MPS offering the type of indemnity we currently provide members – the same indemnity we offer to more than 270,000 members around the world.
We have written to the Minister of Health, raising our concerns and suggesting a number of ways of finding a solution that would be acceptable to the profession, to MPS and to government. It is early days but we are confident that the issue can be resolved long before the current 30 December deadline, and we will keep you updated via the MPS website. We are absolutely committed to offering our members in South Africa the best possible indemnity.
Of course, MPS offers so much more than indemnity for clinical negligence claims. We can help with any problem arising from your professional practice, including complaints, disciplinary procedures, inquests, HPCSA inquiries, and legal and ethical dilemmas. Our highly qualified and experienced medicolegal consultants are here to give advice, assistance and support 24 hours a day. Just talking through a problem might be enough to reassure you or confirm your proposed course of action, and avoid problems arising in the future. We can also provide free access to counselling services to help deal with the stress that a complaint or problem might cause.
Never hesitate to contact us with your query, however big or small. We see ourselves as being at the heart of the profession and will always be pleased to hear from you.
Dr Graham Howarth,
Editor-in-Chief, MPS Head of Medical Services (Africa).
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