The co-regulation of medical discipline: challenging medical peer review.
The medical profession has always fiercely defended its right to self-regulation on the basis of peer review. However, in New South Wales, Australia, the profession has willingly surrendered these rights in favour of a disciplinary system known as co-regulation or collaborative regulation, under which disciplinary processes are shared with a "lay" body, the Health Care Complaints Commission. The system constitutes a unique situation in the history of medical regulation. This article examines the origin and operations of co-regulation and comes to the conclusion that its successful operation over the last decade raises questions about whether peer review is indispensable as the basis of medical regulation.
Thomas
David
D
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007883:Legislation, Medical; D009517:New South Wales; D018024:Peer Review, Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010820:Physicians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*