It is being suspected by a former medical watchdog that a number of doctors are incompetent and the Medical Council fails to identify them, says a recent report.

The report by the watchdog has unveiled that nearly 200 doctors have been endangering patients’ lives and despite the same, they have been in practice.

Former Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson, who has now been working as a law professor at Auckland University, said that the council should not be comfortable with the medical profession. Medical groups have also opposed the unhealthy closeness between the two.

He has been suggesting that the membership should be changed from 8/4 doctor majority to doctors and lay people in equal numbers. He has called for a strict reform in the Medical Council and controls as well.

As per the findings, aspects of North American and British systems such as screening of at-risk doctors and doctors’ occasional performance assessment should be followed to toughen doctors' competence checks.

Some other suggestions that Paterson gave include five-yearly clinical exams and patient feedback, the report has found.