Sir, – I welcome Sean O’Sullivan’s letter (January 7th) concerning fitness-to-practise inquiries for nurses and midwives.
I am appalled that disciplinary hearings in respect of nurses and doctors have, by law, to be held in public. The mere fact of such an inquiry in respect of a nurse or doctor puts that person in the role of an accused in the public mind and, irrespective of an inquiry’s findings, compromises their professional and personal reputation.
The law underpinning this state of affairs is, to my mind, constitutionally suspect, in that it reeks of unfairness and highlights a lack of natural justice. A nurse or doctor refusing to appear before a disciplinary hearing, unless it were conducted other than in public, might well have such a refusal upheld by the courts, and with unsavoury consequences for the disciplinary body.
The legislation needs to be amended accordingly, and with urgency. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL REYNOLDS,
Watersville,
Castlebar,
Co Mayo.