MISCONDUCT SIX ARE STILL WITH THE NHS
The six doctors named by the Sunday Mail today are among 92 doctors across Britain allowed to keep working after being given warnings. They include Dr Michelle Watts, who we can reveal is continuing as a GP despite failing to diagnose diabetes in Claire Taylor, who died soon after from the illness. Our investigation revealed Watts is still an associate medical director at NHS Tayside and working as a GP. Claire’s dad Malcolm said yesterday: “I think warnings to doctors amount to just a slap on the wrist. It’s case oof, ‘Don’t do it again’. It pains us that she remainsrem in a rere lat i v e l y highpowerpowered position with jujust a five-year warnwarning on her file.” ClClaire, 17, from K i r r i emu i r , AngAngus, was seen by four doctors, who believed she had post-viral fatigue, before she died in November 2012.
Her mum Helen alerted Watts to her family history of diabetes. But Dr Watts indicated that the teenager was “panic breathing” and simply needed to rest, eat, exercise and “keep calm”.
Claire became violently ill the next day and, during a home visit by Watts, Helen asked for her to be admitted to hospital.
Watts instead prescribed sleeping tablets and Claire died a few hours later from diabetic ketoacidosis.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service said in its findings last September: “There were serious failures in your assessment, investigation and diagnosis of the patient’s condition.
“This conduct does not meet with the standards required of a doctor.”
But the tribunal concluded that she should not be struck off as a doctor.
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.”
In another case, a Highland consultant was found guilty of serious misconduct over the intimate examinations of two patients in 2013.
A tribunal ruled last May Devjit Srivastava had failed to offer the women chaperones at consultations with him at the clinic when female nurses were on duty. Srivastava, who was at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, did not wear gloves or use a lubricant while carrying out an internal examination on one patient.
An NHS Highland spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment.”
Aberdeenshire doctor Angus Sim was given a warning after being convicted of tax evasion over failing to declare almost £200,000 of income. He got 250 hours of community service and was ordered to pay a compensation order of £ 38,814.
A warning was also issued to Dr Joseph Bassey, who was involved in a “serious untoward clinical incident” when he was a locum senior house doctor in emergency medicine in February 2015.
Dr Mythili Ramalingam made a claim to NHS Education for Scotland for £ 435 when she had already received alternative funding for the course she had attended.
Dr Andras Husz was given a warning after being issued with a penalty notice for theft.
General Medical Council chief executive Charlie Massey said: “Our powers are designed to protect patients, not doctors, and where a doctor’s conduct falls below the standard that we expect we can and will take action.”
Dr Jean Turner, patron of the Scotland Patients Association, said: “Many patients will be puzzled why some doctors have not been struck off and received a warning when you look at some of the cases.”