Page 1 of 1: Need to revise and expand medical council acts

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MOST of the registered medical practitioners and doctors are not practicing up to defined ethical standards, Fiji Medical Association president Doctor Mary Schramm says.

And there was a need to revise and expand the Acts that constitutes and empowers the Fiji Medical council.

Speaking at the Fiji Medical Association Scientific conference at the Holiday Inn last week, she said the Government should start definitive work on the legislation.

She added these were legislations that would:

Give independence, authority and accountability to a reconstituted Fiji Medical Council;

Enable and ensure that whoever carries the accolade of registered medical practitioner was worthy of the trust that people would feel secure;

Address the grey areas in the present Act, especially regarding registration for those who came from outside Fiji.

The present Act was based on British standards that has long since become irrelevant.

Dr Schramm said they were concerned about the number of local doctors that had migrated overseas.

"Our emigrated colleagues have told us that their work was appreciated and items like basic drugs, needles, gloves, plaster are supplied to the point of need and they do not have to chase after them,'' she said.

She added there were eateries that provided food and drinks to doctors and nurses working extended hours on difficult cases compared to the local general orders that were locked away until morning in our major hospitals.

Dr Schramm believes the health services will only move into the right direction when a new health system is commissioned to meet the needs of this century.

She said the new system should look into the health officers' welfare and professional development and it should commit to providing healthcare facilities to the hospitals so it could be of the same standards as the offices of government ministries.

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