Medical practitioner

The interim orders panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service was concerned only with the question of what conditions, in a conditions case, were necessary for the protection of members of the public. For that purpose it had to assess the risk that might be posed if the doctor continued to practise in an unrestricted manner. But that was inevitably an assessment of risk rather than a finding of actual fact. For that purpose it might indeed have to be satisfied that the allegations against the doctor raised a prima facie case of clinical incompetence, or clinical incompetence at a particular level, but it could not go further than that. Accordingly, the court would inevitably pay such respect to the decisions of the IOP as was appropriate in the light of the particular issues raised, recognising its expertise and its familiarity with what was required in order to uphold professional standards and public confidence.