For the first time Charlie Massey publicly stated that his decision to appeal the fitness to practice (MPTS) verdict, and pursue Dr Bawa-Garba in the High Court was wrong.

Giving a much need explanation Mr Massey stated:

‘The GMC wasn’t involved in the criminal process whatsoever. So the question that came to me was whether or not that criminal conviction itself should lead to suspension or erasure. The tribunal decided to suspend Dr Bawa-Garba. The advice that I had at the time was that the tribunal had acted unlawfully and went behind the criminal judgement in terms of her responsibility for Jack Adcock’s death. I said at the time that I felt I had no option but to appeal that decision. The High Court decision have upheld that view and then the Court of Appeal overturned that view. It clarified that that legal advice I had was with hindsight not correct and I completely accept that. If that case came up now that Court of Appeal judgement would mean that I wouldn’t have appealed that case.’

DAUK welcomes the Charlie Massey’s comments and are pleased that it has now been accepted by the GMC that their decision to take Dr Bawa-Garba’s to court to have her erased from the medical register was wrong.

Dr Batt-Rawden who interviewed Charlie Massey said ‘We very much welcome the GMC’s acknowledgment that their actions in the Bawa-Garba case were wrong. It was refreshing to hear such honesty from the GMC, and for the first time some evidence of genuine reflection and learning. However, it will take more than this to win back the trust of doctors and repair the damage done to the medical profession. Doctors will be no doubt be asking why it took so long for the GMC to take responsibility for their decision making in a case which has not only damaged morale against the frontlines, but also had a negative impact on patient safety. It is a shame that it has taken 16 months of lobbying from DAUK to get us to this point, but I am hopeful we can now start to move on, and work with the GMC on moving from a culture of blame, to one of learning.’

CONTACT

Contact@dauk.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden presented a documentary on BBC Radio 4 aired at 2000 on 10th June 109 on why doctors are leaving the NHS. As part of this episode she interview Charlie Massey, as well as senior representatives of the BMA, RCEM and NHS Providers.

2.DAUK is an independent lobbying group formed in response to the GMC’s actions in the Bawa-Garba case. It’s first action as an organisation was to co-ordinate a letter to Charlie Massey protesting his decision to take Dr Bawa-Garba to court in a letter signed by over 4500 doctors and several MPs.

3.DAUK called for a public investigation into the GMC’s handling of the case which was held by the Health Select Committee in October 2018.

4.DAUK have given evidence to both the Williams Review and the GMC commissioned independent review into gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide.

Coverage in Pulse:

The GMC’s chief executive has admitted the legal advice the regulator received during the Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba case was wrong and if the same case were to take place now he would not try to have a doctor barred from practice.

Charlie Massey said he ‘completely accepts’ the legal advice he was given to pursue the striking off of Dr Bawa-Garba – who was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence following the death of a six-year-old patient – was ‘not correct’.

In response, Dr Batt-Rawden said: ‘The acknowledgment that his decision to appeal the MPTS verdict in Dr Bawa-Garba’s case was incorrect was long overdue and will be welcomed by doctors and the public.

‘DAUK wrote to the GMC as far back as February 2018 in a letter signed by over 4,500 doctors in protest of the GMC’s appeal against Dr Bawa-Garba. In that letter we brought to light that the Professional Standards Authority had found this decision to be “incorrect” and “without merit” and that the MPTS “considered all relevant principles and applied the case law appropriately”.

‘DAUK also pointed out that the Supreme Court established that professional tribunals were better placed than courts to determine professional competence in 2016. We were therefore astonished by the GMC’s actions in this case. We were pleased that DAUK was found to be correct in the Court of Appeal in August 2018 and that Dr Bawa-Garba was rightly restored to the medical register, something we have long fought for during our Learn Not Blame campaign.’

She added: ‘To my knowledge this was the first occasion that Charlie Massey accepted publicly that this decision was wrong. This represents a crucial first step in repairing the damage done to the medical profession by the Bawa-Garba case.

‘The GMC still has a long way to go in regaining the trust of doctors, but for the first time in this interview I saw that some genuine reflection and learning had taken place. I hope this signals change in tone from the GMC and we look forward to working with them in moving from a culture of blame, to one of learning.’

Read the full article here:

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/gp-topics/legal/gmc-chief-executive-admits-bawa-garba-legal-advice-was-wrong/20038855.article

This week I had the opportunity to interview Charlie Massey, the chief executive of the General Medical Council (GMC), for a BBC Radio 4 documentary on why doctors are leaving the NHS. It didn’t start well. I found myself on a train to Portsmouth instead of London having been up most of the night; proof that tired doctors do indeed make mistakes.

Generously Charlie did meet with me, some hour and a half late. I felt it was crucial that we acknowledge the impact that the blame culture has had on recruitment and retention.

I was surprised and encouraged, when Massey admitted publicly that the decision to take Hadiza Bawa-Garba to the High Court to have her erased from the medical register was wrong.

To me, this was an incredible acknowledgement from the GMC. But I have no doubt that doctors will be asking: why did it take so long?

Read the full article in the BMJ:

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/06/12/a-change-of-tone-from-the-gmc-but-can-they-win-back-doctors-trust/

“When the General Medical Council (GMC) appealed for her to be struck off the medical register, it lit the blue touch paper for a whole generation of doctors working in very challenging conditions across the country. Many of these doctors were simply not prepared to accept the High Court’s subsequent verdict in January 2018 that Bawa-Garba should be erased from the medical register. And while the GMC’s appeal was initially successful, its pyrrhic victory was to be short lived. An unprecedented crowdfunding appeal raised more than £350 000 for Bawa-Garba to hire a new legal team and launch an appeal. In August 2018 the appeal court rejected the High Court’s decision to allow the GMC to erase Bawa-Garba’s name from the medical register.”

Read the full article here:

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/05/09/jenny-vaughan-the-bawa-garba-case-should-usher-in-a-fairer-culture-in-healthcare/

Today, there is widespread relief amongst the medical profession. However, the verdict is no cause for celebration. At the heart of this case is a child, Jack Adcock, who tragically lost his life to sepsis. Our hearts go out to the Adcock family as they continue to grieve for Jack.

When a child dies it is our duty as doctors to do all we can to prevent the same tragedy from occurring again. We strongly feel that scapegoating an individual doctor or clinician for human errors made whilst whilst working under enormous pressure, does not serve this purpose. Instead, the criminalisation of medical error creates a culture of fear and blame, where clinicians feel afraid to speak up, afraid to reflect, and afraid to learn when things go wrong.1

Therefore, we welcome the verdict of the Medical Tribunal Practitioners Service (MPTS) today, who, after considering all the system failures and the context in which Dr Bawa-Garba made errors, has found her safe to return to medical practice, albeit with conditions on her license. We are especially pleased that the MPTS had accepted Dr Bawa-Garba has “fully remediated”. With widespread support from the medical profession and the Royal Colleges we hope that she will be fully supported in a return to work.

Dr Jenny Vaughan, Law and Policy Officer DAUK and Founder of Manslaughter and Healthcare said:

“I’m a patient, doctor and a mother and I know that Jack Adcock should have received better care. However, Dr Bawa-Garba was working in appalling conditions that day in an NHS hospital and all the evidence of what the hospital actually needed to put right was not heard by the jury. There is a culture of blame in the NHS at the moment which, if left unchecked, will mean patient safety is not what it should be as staff will be too scared to admit their mistakes. The next generation of those who want to care will simply vote with their feet. It’s right that Dr Bawa-Garba is going to be restored to the medical register as the hospital too was at fault and should have provided better care. We are calling for a just culture so that the system here is made safer as locking up individuals achieves nothing.”

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, Chair of The Doctors’ Association UK said:

“Today’s verdict, whilst welcome, is no cause of celebration. There are no winners in this desperately sad case. However, restoring Dr Bawa-Garba to the medical register is the right outcome and will go some way in addressing the current climate of fear and blame in the NHS which is so toxic to patient safety. I have no doubt that Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba will now be the safest doctor in the hospital, and as a doctor and a mother I would have no hesitation in allowing her to treat my child. ”

Contact

Contact@dauk.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. In November 2018 DAUK launched our campaign Learn Not Blame in Parliament, for a just culture in the NHS. DAUK continues to campaign for the decriminalisation of medical error and feels strongly that no clinician should face criminal charges for honest errors. https://www.dauk.org/learnnotblamedauk

The key messages are:

-Healthcare systems should provide an adequate and effective response to patients who have been unintentionally harmed while receiving care

-To improve patient safety we need a greater focus on learning and resolution rather than retribution and blame, recognising the importance of protecting confidential personal reflective practice while encouraging open disclosure and system transparency

-In line with the recommendations from the Williams review, England and Wales should have a higher threshold for criminal prosecution in response to deaths that arise despite conscientious efforts to care for patients under difficult circumstances

-We urgently need to improve the clinical working environment and resourcing for safe functioning of hospitals

Read the full article here: https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l706

You can now listen to Jenny’s full speech as a podcast on the ICS site, including advice on how doctors can avoid litigation.

Dr Vaughan said ‘My main message is watch out for that first SUI and check any statement with your defence organisation. Watch out for any manipulation of the process and ensure you see a copy of the draft report before it’s finalised. Do not get stuck in staff canteens with seniors who ask you to admit your errors. Seniors must support trainees and they have a supreme duty to train and admit their own shortcomings as part of #LearnNotBlame.”

Read the full article here

DAUK would like to congratulate Jenny on this very well deserved award!