It was important for doctors to enter into "a new and direct relationship with the public about what medicine can and cannot do", the Royal College of General Practitioners' spring symposium heard at the weekend.
Sir Donald Irvine, president of the General Medical Council (GMC) in Britain, called for "a new deal between medicine and society". Rather than negotiating with the public through governments, it was time for doctors to educate patients directly about the quality of care which they could expect.
The GMC regulates the UK medical profession; doctors in the Republic are monitored by a separate council.
He was speaking to some 300 GPs, mainly from the UK and the Republic, on "Good doctors and the GMC".
Sir Donald said the GMC was no longer fit for the purpose for which it was set up. It was too reactive and too slow in dealing with issues of professional competence.
His comments follow the release of a discussion document, "Protecting Patients", which sets out options for reform in the way doctors are regulated. One of the main proposals is for key decisions to be made by a small executive board selected from a wider council. This would be equally split between medical and lay members.
Sir Donald said that in the past the GMC had been "bad at dealing with poor professional practice. We must maintain a register of doctors who are up to date and fully competent to practise in their chosen field."
He said the next development must be to link professional standards of practice with Medical Council registration, making doctors properly accountable through the process of revalidation. "You must be able to say that you are what you claim to be."
Acknowledging that the area of revalidation and reaccreditation was a source of anxiety for doctors, he said the GMC's role in education was about to be strengthened. It would not just deal with basic medical education but also with the continuing professional education process to ensure doctors adhered to minimum practice.
"Doctors must give themselves permission to bring professional problems to each other's attention in a blame-free environment," he said.
Sir Donald said patients wanted doctors who were clinically competent but even more importantly they wanted a consistency of competence. "But patients still value old-fashioned qualities in their relationship with doctors. They want doctors who are honest, communicative, respectful and caring and kind."
He wondered if the increasing popularity of alternative medicine was because of the time and empathy given by these practitioners.