Why is this doctor who let my son die working?
‘Unrepentant’ psychiatrist, who made 39 failings leading to teen’s death, faces action
AN IRISH doctor who made 39 individual failings that led to the death of a patient in her care in England is set to face disciplinary action in Ireland.
Connor Sparrowhawk was just 18 when he died in 2013, while admitted to an NHS assessment and treatment unit. He had autism, epilepsy and a learning disability.
His lead psychiatrist, Dr Valerie Murphy, currently works with the HSE in the Cork/Kerry region and also lectures at University College Cork.
Dr Murphy was strongly criticised in a report by the British Medical Practitioners Tribunal, published on Monday. The tribunal found her ‘impaired by reason of her misconduct’. She could now be struck off the British medical register, with a hearing set for February.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr Sparrowhawk’s mother asked how someone who failed her son could continue to work in psychiatry.
In Ireland, all working doctors must register with the Irish Medical Council. Dr Murphy registered in June 2014, less than a year after Mr Sparrowhawk died but before the tribunal began.
A spokeswoman declined to comment directly on Dr Murphy but said: ‘The Medical Council could commence disciplinary proceedings against a doctor on its register [who has] been found “impaired by reason of misconduct” in another jurisdiction.’
She added that even if a doctor does not tell the council about a negative finding, it can act if it becomes aware of a case through other means.
Dr Murphy has been working as an adult psychiatrist with a special interest in learning disability for Cork & Kerry Community Healthcare since November 2014.
A HSE spokeswoman said: ‘The tribunal has been updating Cork & Kerry Community Healthcare as the hearing progresses. We are also in contact with the Medical Council and will continue to liaise with it as to any appropriate steps that may be required.
Dr Murphy also lectures in psychiatry at University College Cork. A spokeswoman for the university said: ‘University College Cork is aware of the findings in the UK in relation to Dr Valerie Murphy and the university is considering the matter.’
Sara Ryan, Mr Sparrowhawk’s mother and a senior researcher and autism specialist at Oxford University said: ‘It’s very worrying to me that she continues to work. She is not fit to practise. She is still working and that is horrifying. It is so wrong.
‘She never apologised – it’s as if she doesn’t understand that Connor was a person and he died.’
Ms Ryan, who had to fight for her son’s death to be recognised as negligence, said: ‘I wonder how many other psychiatrists in intellectual disability are as poor as she is, in Ireland and England? As parents of disabled children, we have to stop accepting such low standards. Looking back I’m appalled at what I accepted for Connor.’
Mr Sparrowhawk died while having a bath at Slade House assessment and treatment unit in Oxfordshire on July 4, 2013. Dr Murphy was found to have made 39 failings while he was in her care. The tribunal also found that she showed little remorse.
‘She is not fit to work as a doctor. It’s horrifying’