Not disclosing the names of doctors in the surgical team may amount to deficiency of service.

The Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission presiding members, M.K. Abdulla Sona and A. Radha, in a judgement, ordered the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils-Kerala (TCMC-K) to instruct all doctors to display their registration numbers on their signboards and to mention their registration numbers in all the prescriptions and all case sheets. The Commission stated that mentioning the registration number in the doctors’ prescriptions, case-sheets and signboards would help the patients receive the required information about the doctor, including their competency and if they had the required qualifications. The commission said that the patient/consumer has the right to know the details of each doctor who accompanied the head of the surgical team, including the anesthesiologist. Failing to do so would be considered a deficiency of service and an unfair trade practice under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.