Doctors convicted of serious misconduct face lifetime ban

Health minister Edith Schippers wants to bring in a life-time ban for doctors and other care providers who are guilty of serious misconduct.

Schippers says in a briefing to MPs she wants to prevent doctors from going back to work with patients if they have a very serious conviction.

At the moment, doctors and other medical staff who are found guilty of misconduct can be struck off the BIG register of healthcare professionals. But this only stops them from running their own practices and they are still able to work under the supervision of colleagues or institutions, broadcaster Nos says.

However, this should no longer be possible in very serious cases such as sexual offences, Schippers said. She is now considering introducing a ban on professionals working with certain categories of patients and in some cases a ban on practicing medicine or other forms of healthcare altogether.

The minister said she is discussing the options with health ministry officials.

Her analysis of the medical misconduct legislation follows the recent case of a drug-addicted neurologist who misdiagnosed patients but continued to work in Germany, despite being struck off in the Netherlands.

Between 2004 and January 2013, 42 Dutch healthcare professionals – including doctors, nurses and physiotherapists – were struck of the BIG register for misconduct, RTL news says.