THE Medical Council is to hold an inquiry into complaints of professional misconduct against Dr Moira Woods, the Dublin doctor and campaigner on social issues.
Dr Woods said last night that she was confident the complaints would not be upheld.
The inquiry arises out of allegations by a group of parents who claim they were wrongly accused of child abuse in the late 198Os. As the first director of the Sexual Assault Unit of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, Dr Woods was involved in providing evidence to support allegations of abuse at the time. The parents include a couple whose children were returned to them by the courts.
The Fitness to Practise Committee of the Medical Council had decided by late January to hold the inquiry. The Medical Council's legal advisers are to complete preliminary work on it this month. The timing of the inquiry is uncertain but it is very unlikely to take place before the autumn.
"I deny all charges of professional misconduct and have been advised that the charges are unlikely to be upheld," Dr Woods said last night.
The doctor was involved in validating many cases of child abuse and did much - along with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre - to bring the problem to public attention in the 198Os, when awareness of it was relatively low in this country. She also did much to keep the plight of rape victims before the public.
Since the start of this decade alleged child abuse victims have been examined at specialist units in Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals in Dublin and at St Finbarr's Hospital in Cork.
The timing of the case will depend on how long it takes the Medical Council's legal advisers to assemble their case against Dr Woods and on how long her legal advisers will require to prepare an answer. But it seems likely the hearing will be held later this year or early next year. While such hearings are normally held in private, the Medical Council has been seeking advice on the implications of a French case in which it was established that a doctor's case should have been held in public. Should the Medical Council decide that it must hold this in public such a case is likely to generate intense interest.