Doctors seek prosecution of hospital where boy, six, died
A GROUP of doctors have urged police to bring corporate manslaughter charges against a hospital where a sixyear-old boy died.
Jack Adcock died of septic shock at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011, after a series of mistakes.
Dr Hadiza Bawa-garba was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter and has been struck off the medical register, but supporters have said “systemic” hospital failings were to blame.
Leicestershire Police confirmed it had received a letter urging the force to bring corporate manslaughter charges.
The court heard Jack, who had Down’s syndrome and a heart condition, was the subject of a “catalogue” of errors including missing signs of his infection and mistakenly thinking he was under a do-not-resuscitate order.
After being found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence, Dr Bawagarba was suspended for 12 months. But last week the High Court upheld an appeal by the General Medical Council that this was “not sufficient to protect the public”, and she has now been struck off. This provoked a backlash from medics who felt Dr Bawa-garba had been made a scapegoat for making mistakes in an under-resourced hospital.
More than 8,000 doctors have signed a letter condemning her treatment and an online appeal raised more than £200,000 in a matter of days. Dr Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio) said the case had caused “shock waves”. Junior medical staff and trainees were “fearful” and felt unsupported, he said. “They will be hesitant to work in these circumstances, thus compromising patient care,” he added.
Writing to Leicestershire Police, Bapio said: “We believe that significant concerns have been raised and evidence referred to which justify consideration of an investigation of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to determine if Jack Adcock’s death could require a prosecution.”
The force confirmed it had received the letter and would be raising the matter with the Crown Prosecution Service.
A spokesman for the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said: “We understand that the police have received a letter from the Bapio and will be discussing it with the CPS. We await the outcome of those discussions.”