New figures from the Medical Council reveal that the number of complaints against doctors is increasing, with complaints against 494 doctors received last year. It represents an increase of over 12% on 2011.
The Medical Council is the regulatory body for doctors. Over 18,000 medical practitioners are registered to work in Ireland.
According to the council's 2012 annual report, around one in every 37 doctors on the medical register was the subject of a complaint.
Two doctors were struck off, four were suspended, six had conditions attached to their continued practice and 11 were advised, admonished or censured.
The main areas of complaint were communication, diagnosis, clinical investigations, follow-up care and surgical procedures.
Last year, 41 Fitness to Practise inquiries were held by the council. Of these, 27 were held in public, one partly in public and 13 in private.
Arising from those inquiries, 12 doctors were found guilty of professional misconduct and ten were found guilty of poor professional performance.
A total of 33 doctors attended the Medical Council's health committee for reasons ranging from alcohol misuse, drug misuse, mental disability or other health reasons.
Professor Kieran Murphy, President of the Medical Council, said the number of complaints about doctors is still relatively low, compared with other countries.
He said the reason for the increase is partly due to more public inquiries and increased expectations from patients.
The Medical Council said that more complaints are made about male doctors than female doctors.
There are also more complaints concerning doctors who qualified from outside Europe and the reasons for this need to be examined.
The council said that the health service is heavily reliant on these non-EU doctors and over a quarter of doctors on the register are from outside of the EU.
Mr Murphy said the implementation of the Medical Practitioner's Act 2007 during the council's term resulted in significantly greater protection for patients and also made it a legal requirement for doctors to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.
The five-year term of the council ends this month and a new council takes over shortly.
