Editorial: Doctors must be held to a higher standard

Few professions demand as much trust as medicine. Patients surrender not only their bodies to doctors, but often their dignity, privacy and, in many cases, their lives. 

It is against this backdrop that the latest rape charge against an Onandjokwe Hospital doctor has understandably unsettled the public. The ministry of health has responded by activating its internal administrative processes while the criminal justice system takes its course. That is appropriate.

Equally appropriate is the reminder that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This is not a technicality; it is a cornerstone of a democratic society. We should resist the temptation to convict people in the court of public opinion before the courts have spoken.

Yet the presumption of innocence does not mean the public must suspend all legitimate questions about ethics, accountability and institutional judgement.

The doctor at the centre of the latest allegations was previously prosecuted on a separate rape charge, convicted by a lower court and later acquitted by the High Court. Legally, that acquittal restored his innocence. It is therefore wrong to treat him as though he remains guilty of that offence.

However, acquittal does not erase the broader question of professional suitability in occupations built almost entirely on public trust.

Government and professional regulators owe the public an explanation of the safeguards that exist when healthcare workers with serious past allegations return to clinical practice. Were risk assessments conducted? These are not questions of punishment. They are questions of governance.

Society expects more from doctors than merely staying on the right side of criminal law.

The courts will determine criminal guilt or innocence. Society, meanwhile, is entitled to expect that those privileged to practise medicine conduct themselves in a manner that inspires confidence, both inside and outside the hospital.