Doctors’ union calls on GMC chief executive to resign
Medics demand action after Court of Appeal reverses suspension of paediatrician
HOSPITAL doctors have demanded the resignation of the chief executive of the General Medical Council over his handling of the case of a paediatrician who was struck off after the death of a boy in her care.
Dr Hadiza Bawa-garba was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter and struck off the medical register over the death of Jack Adcock, but was reinstated following a Court of Appeal hearing earlier this month.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal had ruled that Dr Bawa-garba could practice after a year’s suspension, but the GMC took the case to the High Court, arguing that the penalty was insufficient. The move angered many doctors, who accused the GMC of ignoring important issues raised by the case such as dangerous levels of understaffing, failures of IT systems and staff working in inappropriate conditions.
Now the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) union has called for Charlie Massey, the GMC chief executive, to stand down, saying he has lost the confidence of the medical profession.
HCSA executive member Dr John West said: “The level of distrust and anger that we are seeing among hospital doctors has prompted begrudging apologies and a review into the laws surrounding such cases.
“Yet at no point has the chief executive of the GMC taken personal responsibility for his actions.”
In 2011, Dr Bawa-garba failed to spot that Jack, from Glen Parva, Leicestershire, was suffering from septic shock, then mistook him for a different child under a “do not resuscitate” order and ordered colleagues to stop life-saving attempts when his heart stopped.
After a 2015 trial at Nottingham Crown Court, Dr Bawa-garba was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years. But the case caused a backlash among medics because it focused on material gained from her own appraisal when she had reflected on what had happened.
A spokesman for the GMC said: “We recognise the anger felt by many doctors about this case.
“As an independent regulator responsible for protecting patient safety, we are frequently called upon to make difficult decisions, and do not take that responsibility lightly.
“We have fully accepted the Court of Appeal’s judgment, in what was a complex and unusual case.”