The role of regional health authorities should be re-evaluated in the wake of lax oversight which might have facilitated medical malpractice at the National Chest Hospital, says Dr Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica.

Her comments come in the wake of an unravelling saga involving alleged unethical practices by Dr Dennis Pyne, vascular thoracic surgeon at the St Andrew hospital.

Following an emergency meeting of the association convened yesterday to scrutinise a report on Pyne's actions, the group recommended that the matter be immediately investigated by the Public Service Commission.

Wright-Pascoe says the recommendations made in the report on the National Chest Hospital are similar to others made before in an earlier report specifically focusing on regional health authorities.

"We feel that it is critical that the Government either decide that the recommendations are null and void or the recommendations are appropriate and are to be implemented," the MAJ boss told The Gleaner yesterday.

According to Wright-Pascoe, the terms of the contract of the accused physician were poorly designed and poorly supervised.

"It is the opinion of the council of the Medical Association of Jamaica that this particular representation of partnership was flawed and the process should be reviewed," she said.

Pyne was interdicted last year following several complaints by doctors. His fate is now to be decided by the attorney general, who is expected to make a ruling soon.

Among the complaints by doctors were that Pyne was charging patients for services which were ruled free of charge following the abolition of user fees on April 1.

It is further alleged that he solicited public patients to become private ones and also charged public patients private fees.