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Health Ministry to set up independent body to probe malpractice claims
The Health Ministry is to form an independent board to better protect health professionals from malpractice litigation, in line with the new Health Law.
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Health workers attend to a patient on July 4, 2021 in an emergency quarantine tent in Yogyakarta. (Antara/Hendra Nurdiyansyah)
T
he Health Ministry plans to form an independent body authorized to investigate claims of medical malpractice in an effort to better protect health professionals from criminalization.
The ministry’s health law expert staffer Sundoyo said in future, law enforcement officers must first consult the independent malpractice board on receiving any reports of alleged medical malpractice from members of the public.
"The police cannot investigate the case immediately, they need to report the case to the independent board first,” he said in a statement on Sunday. “The board will then investigate the report and determine whether the case can be prosecuted as a crime."
The Omnibus Law on Health passed last month also stipulates that alleged victims of medical malpractice must first obtain a letter from the independent body referring their claim for processing at a civil court.
Sundoyo said the new mechanism aimed to reduce the risk of criminalization of medical or human errors by health professionals, especially during a state of emergency.
"During an emergency, sometimes medical professionals carry out treatments that deviate from standard practice or procedures in [medicine] in order to save lives. We need to be able to provide legal protections for them during this [kind of] situation," he said.
Read also: Lawmakers pass omnibus health bill despite protests
