The Medical Council is trying to win back the faith in doctors that has been lost since the sex abuse conviction of Christchurch GP Morgan Fahey.
It intends to review policies and information to do with the relationship between doctors and their patients in order to assure patients that they would be safe in future, spokeswoman Susan Pattullo said yesterday.
"It is a major evaluation," she said. "It is one part of helping reassure people that something is being done and that the issue is being taken seriously."
The Medical Association has voiced concerns about the repercussions of the Fahey case.
Association chairwoman Dr Pippa MacKay said she believed all doctors felt they had been victims of Fahey because public confidence in the profession had been dented.
Fahey, a former deputy mayor of Christchurch, was imprisoned for six years in June this year for rape, sexual violation and indecent assault.
Over 30 years, he sexually abused 11 female patients.
Ms Pattullo said that during the review, the Medical Council would meet doctors' groups and women's groups to re-evaluate policies on patient relationships that were written 10 years ago.
The new policies would be better promoted to doctors and patients, she said.
"We want to ensure that abuse cannot occur out of ignorance.
"One of the criticisms from recent cases has been that women have had little idea of where to go and what will happen if they lay a complaint."
The nine-month review by an independent evaluator would look into issues such as chaperones, supporting victims of abuse, sexual relationships with former patients, and reporting of doctors believed to have abused their patients.
"But these are only policies. Solutions must come from within the profession, and through individuals being prepared to act," Ms Pattullo said.
The council is also urging doctors to protect themselves by understanding the psychological issues involved in the doctor-patient relationship.
It says they should also have good social contacts outside work, set aside time for themselves and find peer support.
Ms Pattullo said the council was taking this message into medical schools.
"Young people going into medicine must be well-balanced, mature individuals who know how to cope with the ups and downs of a 'normal life'."
- NZPA
Medical review aims to win back patient trust
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