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IN exercise of the powers
conferred on the Medical and
Dental Council by subsection (2)
(b) of section 4 and subsection
(1) of section 52 of the Medical
and Dental Decree, 1972 (N.R.C.D.
91) these Regulations are made
this 30th day of June, 1975.
Regulation 1—Practitioner.
In these Regulations
“practitioner” includes any person
with qualifications recognised by
the Medical and Dental Council
established in Ghana under the
Medical and Dental Decree, 1972 (N.R.C.D.
91) professing to practice
medicine or dentistry (as the case
may be) or holding himself out as
ready and willing to treat
patients.
Regulation 2—Covering and
Associating with Unqualified
Person.
(1) A practitioner shall not
enable an unqualified person to
attend, treat or perform
operations on patients in respect
of matters requiring professional
discretion or skill.
(2) A practitioner shall not enter
into medical partnership with any
person who is not a registered
practitioner.
(3) A practitioner may, however,
employ the services of paramedical
personnel and medical auxiliaries
who are qualified, but these shall
be under the immediate supervision
of the registered practitioner.
Regulation 3—Advertising
(1) A practitioner shall not
directly or indirectly apply for
or seek professional business, or
do or permit in the carrying out
of his practice any act or thing
which can be reasonably regarded
as advertising or calculated to
attract business unfairly.
(2) Talks, public articles or
letters, public lectures, radio
and television talks are not
necessarily advertising, and
whether any publication offends
against this regulation or not is
a matter for the Disciplinary
Committee to determine.
Regulation 4—Professional Secrecy.
(1) It is against professional
conduct for a practitioner to
disclose voluntarily without the
consent of the patient,
information which he has obtained
in the course of his professional
relationship with the patient.
(2) A practitioner may, however,
disclose such information in the
public interest, and shall make
such disclosure when required to
do so by statute or a court of
law.
Regulation 5—Improper Association
with Patient.
It is an offence against
professional ethics for a
practitioner to abuse his special
access to a patient by way of
adultery or any other improper
association with the patient at
the material time.
Regulation 6—Conviction for a
Crime.
The conviction of a practitioner
for a criminal offence involving
dishonesty or moral turpitude
makes him prima facie liable to
disciplinary proceedings before
the Disciplinary Committee.
Regulation 7—Influence of Alcohol
and Drugs.
A
practitioner shall not whilst
under the influence of alcohol or
drugs attend to patients.
Regulation 8—Fee Splitting.
Except in a normal medical
partnership, any fee splitting,
that is undisclosed division or
sharing of fees between two or
more medical practitioners for
treatment of patients whether by
means of commission or any other
arrangement is unethical.
Regulation 9—Improper Business
Relationship.
Collusion between practitioners
and pharmacists for financial gain
is unethical.
Regulation 10—Premises and Door
Plate.
(1) Professional premises shall
not be housed in such buildings as
hotels or pharmacist shops,
although in special circumstances,
this may be within ethical bounds.
(2) A practitioner may indicate to
the public his availability as a
medical or dental practitioner by
putting a door plate or signboard
near his house and professional
premises.
(3) Signboard shall not be of an
unreasonable size and prominence
and shall indicate only the name
of the clinic and working hours.
(4) Any change of address or
surgery or consulting hours may be
communicated, under cover, to
patients of practitioner but no
newspaper or other public
announcement shall be made.
(5) A practitioner commits an
offence if he has on his door
plate or signboard, false
information relating to his
qualifications, titles or
speciality.
Regulation 11—Nursing Homes.
(1) Medical practitioners agreeing
to supervise other clinics such as
nursing homes or a chain of
nursing homes shall provide daily
attention and treatment to the
out-patients or in-patients.
(2) Failure by the medical
practitioner to attend the clinics
as provided in sub-regulation (1)
of this regulation amounts to
negligence which may render the
practitioner liable to
disciplinary proceedings.
(3) A practitioner may operate
more than one clinic provided they
are not all open at the same time.
Regulation 12—Issuing of
Documents.
(1) A practitioner renders himself
liable to disciplinary action if
in his professional capacity he
issues in connection with
Government and Municipal Acts,
insurance and similar societies,
matters relating to attendance in
courts of justice, the public
service, or in ordinary
employment, a certificate,
notification or report which is
untrue, misleading or improper.
(2) A practitioner shall not give
a certificate to a patient who is
under the care of an unregistered
person, unless he has personally
examined the patient.
(3) A practitioner shall not
enable an unqualified or
unregistered person to issue or
procure the issue of any
certificate or otherwise act as if
he were qualified or registered.
Regulation 13—Drugs.
(1) A contravention of any of the
provisions of the Pharmacy and
Drugs Act, 1961 (Act 64) and
Regulations made there under do
not only render a practitioner
liable to criminal proceedings,
but also liable to disciplinary
proceedings, by the Disciplinary
Committee.
(2) A practitioner shall be
personally responsible for
restricted drugs in his custody
and shall guard against their
falling into the hands of
unauthorised persons.
(3) A practitioner shall not sign
blank prescription forms and hand
them to patients or any other
persons.
Regulation 14—Infamous Conduct.
It is the duty of the Disciplinary
Committee to determine what action
or course of conduct constitutes
infamous conduct in a professional
respect in each disciplinary case
before it.
PROF. C. O. EASMON
Chairman
DR. P. M. J. PHILLIPS
Registrar
Date of Gazette Notification: 4th
July, 1975.
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