Bad doctors most likely to be men, report shows

Women make safer doctors than men, Britain's largest study of medical performance has found.

They are less likely to be investigated over concerns about their behaviour, clinical skills or conduct and are much less likely than their male colleagues to be suspended or barred from work.

An analysis of almost 5000 doctors and dentists referred to the UK's National Clinical Assessment Service over the past eight years because of worries about their performance shows a strong gender imbalance.

About 800 doctors and 100 dentists are referred each year.

The study found that psychiatrists, obstetricians and GPs were most likely to arouse concern about their performance.

The assessment service was set up in 2001 after a series of scandals in the 1990s.

One of the most notorious involved Rodney Ledward, a hospital consultant who styled himself the "fastest gynaecologist in the west" and was struck off the medical register in 1998 after a series of botched operations.

Ledward, who died in 2000, was later the subject of a public inquiry which reported that he injured scores of women.

A report published this week shows that 873 women were referred to the service over the eight-year period, compared with 3635 men.

Women comprised only 20 per cent of the referrals but make up 40 per cent of the doctor workforce.

In the most serious cases, 50 female doctors working in hospitals were excluded from work, compared with 290 men.

Among GPs, 29 women were excluded compared with 200 men.

The deputy director of the assessment service, Rosemary Field, "It is not that women are better doctors than men. But there is research showing that they tend to have longer consultations and are more patient-centred than men. Other studies show they are less likely to be risk takers."

Two referrals in three concerned clinical skills, but half also related to behaviour. One in four was for health reasons, including depression and addiction to drink or drugs.

The report's chief author, Peter Old, said psychiatrists worked in teams, attended mental health tribunals and could be "subject to more scrutiny" than their colleagues, which might account for the high referral rate.

Black and Asian doctors who qualified overseas were more likely to be referred than white British-trained colleagues.

But black doctors who qualified in the UK were not more likely to be referred, suggesting there was not wide discrimination on grounds of race.

A total of 122 doctors were suspended or excluded during the 2008-2008 year. They included , including seven hospital specialists and 15 GPs suspended for more than two years, most on charges of misconduct.

Where a doctor was suspended on full pay, the cost of replacing him or her and meeting legal and administrative charges could reach £500,000 ($1.13 million), Dr Old said.

- INDEPENDENT