The Medical Registrar: “The High Court have upheld the GMC’s appeal and struck off Hadiza Bawa-Garba.
An ST4 paediatrician with an unblemished record, coming back to work that day after maternity leave, asked to cover for a second registrar who was on training off the wards, covering the children’s assessment unit without a consultant (who was teaching outside the city). On a day when the IT systems went down and all blood results were being phoned.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service suspended her for a year, but the GMC have spent our fees to overturn this suspension and have her struck off. The evidence against her included a reflective practice record on her ePortfolio.
At the centre of all this is a family’s tragic loss. But what does the GMC pursuing Dr Bawa-Garba to the High Court achieve?
1) Healthcare professionals are unlikely to take on additional roles when departments are short-staffed
2) They are unlikely to reflect on mistakes; and perhaps more likely to cover them up, scare for their careers
In those circumstances, with the many system failures, it could have been any of us
We’ve been flooded with messages about Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba’s case and it’s implications for doctors in the NHS. Here’s two small things you can do for now:
1. Sign the excellent letter by Fionna Martin and James Crane which is getting good coverage in broadsheets after ~15,000 signatures and counting. Not too late to add your name!
(and ignore the heading, it’s not to the Sunday Telegraph)
2. Contribute to the Crowdjustice campaign that will seek an independent legal opinion to see if the original manslaughter conviction and/or her erasure from the medical register can be challenged.
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