Not disclosing the names of doctors in the surgical team may be deficiency of service

In a judgement, the Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission presiding members M.K. Abdulla Sona and A. Radha directed the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils-Kerala (TCMC-K) to instruct all doctors to display their medical council registration numbers on their signboards and quote the register numbers in all prescriptions and all case sheets. The commission said that using the registration number in the doctors’ prescriptions, case-sheets and signboards would help patients to get all information about the doctor including their competency and possessed the required qualifications. The commission said that the patient/consumer has the right to know the details of each doctor who accompanied the leader of the surgical team, including the anaesthesiologist. Any denial of this would be considered a deficiency of service and an unfair trade practice under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.