Ahead of the debate in the House of Lords on 20th October on a new offence of wilful neglect on doctors, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) continues to call for safeguards to prevent damaging consequences to the professional lives of doctors.
Dr Nick Clements, Head of Medical Services said: “While we welcome assurances from government about the guidance which will be produced for the new criminal sanctions for ill treatment or wilful neglect, we continue to have concerns that the Bill as it stands will have unintended consequences.
“The government’s intention is that the offence deals with only the most serious incidents, but it will rely on reasonable everyday decisions to be protected by prosecutors exercising their discretion not to prosecute. However, the offence is broadly drafted and the police will feel obliged to investigate cases of alleged neglect unless it is clear there is no case to answer.
“We believe there needs to be appropriate and sufficient safeguards, making it clear that where a professional’s actions are part of appropriate everyday clinical decision making and would be supported by a responsible body of their peers they should not be investigated.
“It is important that greater clarity as to the threshold for the criminal offence is provided in legislation otherwise there may be unwarranted and disruptive police investigations into clinical decisions made by doctors.”
More information
For further information please contact Stella-Maris Zegge, MPS Press Officer at +44 020 7399 1439 or email [email protected]