News

13.08.18

Dr Bawa-Garba wins court appeal against dismissal decision

The formerly struck-off Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba has won her Court of Appeal challenge and is free to practise medicine again.

Dr Bawa-Garba said she was “whole-heartedly sorry” for mistakes that led to the death of a six-year-old boy in 2011 as her CoA trial ended at the end of July. The junior doctor was struck off after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011, when Jack Adcock died of septic shock after being admitted with vomiting and sickness.

The paediatrics junior doctor received a two-year suspended criminal sentence in 2015, and was dismissed from the medical register in January this year after originally receiving a year-long suspension from the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) following an appeal launched by the GMC.

The decision caused controversy in the medical profession: many campaigners complained that Dr Bawa-Garba was hampered by technical failures in the hospital during Adcock’s treatment such as a computer fault that meant the junior doctor could not retrieve blood test results.

Today, Dr Bawa-Garba was reinstated to the medical register, after the master of the rolls who announced the ruling, Sir Terence Etherton, said “no concerns have ever been raised about the clinical competence of Dr Bawa-Garba, other than in relation to Jack’s death,” noting that the paediatrics trainee was in the top third of her specialist cohort at the time of the incident.

He added: “The tribunal was satisfied that her deficient actions in relation to Jack were neither deliberate nor reckless, that she had remedied the deficiencies in her clinical skills and did not present a continuing risk to patients, and that the risk of her clinical practice suddenly and without explanation falling below the standards expected on any given day was no higher than for any other reasonably competent doctor.”

The ruling added that Dr Bawa-Garba is a “competent and useful doctor,” who presents no material continuing danger to the public.

Responding to the judgment, Royal College of Physicians London (RCP) president Professor Dame Jane Dacre said Jack Adcock’s death was a result of “an overstretched system” that saw a competent trainee covering the workload of several doctors.  

“As Dr Bawa-Garba’s counsel said, the decision of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service to impose a one year suspension was ‘humane and balanced’. It recognised that the actions of a doctor had contributed to the death of a patient, but also that the doctor in question was working under extreme pressure,” she added.

“As a profession, we must now work together to avoid further deaths. We will achieve this by making sure the NHS has the financial and human resources it needs. By working with the GMC to make sure its focus is on the development of a just culture. And, above all, by collectively reflecting and learning from this tragic incident.”

Enjoying NHE? Subscribe here to receive our weekly news updates or click here to receive a copy of the magazine!

Image credit: Nick Ansell, PA Images

Comments

There are no comments. Why not be the first?

Add your comment

national health executive tv

more videos >

latest news

View all News

comment

NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

23/09/2019NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

Reason to celebrate as NHS says watching rugby can be good for your mental ... more >
Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

21/06/2019Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

Taking time to say thank you is one of the hidden pillars of a society. Bei... more >

editor's comment

26/06/2020Adapting and Innovating

Matt Roberts, National Health Executive Editorial Lead. NHE May/June 2020 Edition We’ve been through so much as a health sector and a society in recent months with coronavirus and nothing can take away from the loss and difficulties that we’ve faced but it vital we also don’t disregard the amazing efforts we’ve witnessed. Staff have gone above and beyond, whole hospitals and trusts have flexed virtually at will to meet demand and pressures and we’ve... read more >

last word

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad, president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), sits down with National Health Executive as part of our Last Word Q&A series. Would you talk us throu more > more last word articles >

interviews

Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

24/10/2019Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

Today, speaking at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annual... more >

the scalpel's daily blog

Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

28/08/2020Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers & Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Confederation The common enemy of coronavirus united the public side by side wi... more >
read more blog posts from 'the scalpel' >

healthcare events

events calendar

back

September 2020

forward
mon tue wed thu fri sat sun
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11

featured articles

View all News