Ombudsman Jack Chan on Thursday said there have been "systemic problems and inadequacies" in how the Medical Council and its secretariat handle and monitor complaints against doctors.

This came following his office’s direct probe, stemming from media reports last October revealing that the council had delayed the handling of a complaint involving an infant with cerebral palsy by 15 years.

Chan said the investigation found that in the past six years, it took the council more than a decade to finish handling 11 complaints.

For another 260 or so cases, three quarters of them took less than five years.

The Ombudsman said the council had already been able to conclude proceedings quicker recently than in past years.

Still, he said the figures indicate the council's complaint-handling was too slow, and could have serious implications while being unfair to both complainants and complainees.

"Overall speaking, the current investigations and disciplinary proceedings into complaints against medical practitioners are excessively long and fall far short of public expectations," Chan said at a press conference.

"Cases involving serious professional misconduct, if such misconduct actually exists, may even pose a risk to patient safety."

The Ombudsman proposed a series of recommendations, which were accepted by the authorities.

These include amending the law such that when a doctor is subject to an inquiry, his or her licence should be suspended.

Chan's office also proposed introducing a mediation mechanism between parties.

"The government should also urge the council to critically explore any scope to streamline procedures — such as adopting the facts established by the court, or inviting experts who have testified at an inquest to serve as expert witnesses in the council's disciplinary inquiry," he said.

The Ombudsman went on to propose that the council should have a higher ratio of lay members, but whether or not this is recommendation is acted upon is a matter for authorities to decide, it said.