To feel sorry for this doctor?

[HarryStylesismycrack]

I am not in any way downplaying the death of that beautiful little boy and it is clearly acknowledged there were some failures by the doctor in question however AIBU to feel as though this intervention by the GMC into the independent decision making by the MPTS is concerning? It appears to me that the MPTS took into account many things, not just the outcome (which I completely acknowledge is heartbreaking), the fact that this doctor was working the job of several other medical staff in an unfamiliar environment with significant IT issues with no senior input. It feels like this doctor has been made a bit of a scapegoat for huge systemic failures.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/jack-adcock-latest-downs-syndrome-death-doctor-hadiza-babwa-garba-struck-off-general-medical-council-a8177721.html

A different link to a blog by other medical practitioners 54000doctors.org/blogs/an-account-by-concerned-uk-paediatric-consultants-of-the-tragic-events-surrounding-the-gmc-action-against-dr-bawa-garba.html

It was an unworkable shift though, not a tough one. In retrospect, once she realised she was responsible for 100 patients plus acute admissions she should have told them to fuck off and gone home.

If it was a 12 hour shift she would be able to spend about 6-7 minutes each with each patient, all of whom presumably needed to be in hospital and this could also have potentially deteriorated . And somehow add procedures, scripts, conversations with parents, stopping to answer pages from nurses and new admissions. Not to mention needing to perform a lumbar puncture and the lab system broken and a consultant who didn’t help. There’s no time in there to go to the bathroom, drink water or eat.

This case has been widely discussed in Australian medical circles with the consensus that she was clearly a competent doctor who was treated appallingly. The main provider of indemnity insurance released a statement saying that what happened to her would not happen to an Australian doctor working under the same conditions (although conditions in Australia aren’t like that).

once she realised she was responsible for 100 patients plus acute admissions she should have told them to fuck off and gone home.

for which the hospital and Trust would have hung her out to dry. you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

sorry that should have said Trust and GMC

That's the trouble to my mind. Nobody without a deep sense of vocation would choose to be a doctor which is why junior doctors are treated so badly.

Are you a lawyer, Motherhood?

I know laptop! But that shift was impossible. If this is typical of NHS doctors’ conditions then patients will die and doctors will leave.

motherhood medicolegal cases are ubiquitous in medicine. The fact that medicolegal experts and doctors in Australia are singling our this case for discussion suggests that the process and outcome have been deemed unfair.

Why wasn't whoever gave Jack the drug which led to his cardiac arrest also tried for manslaughter?

Because it was his mum

The role of that drug seems to be quite controversial anyway. Some reports suggest that it contribute some suggest it didn’t. It hasn’t been reported in the papers at all, unlike the confusion over the DNR which has clearly been shown not to have contributed...

the indications of sepsis and the DNR error, iirc

The pause in recus was shown not to have had any effect.

I’m a lawyer too so not automatically on the side of the medics, other than wanting a safe health service that isn’t understaffed and where people can learn from mistakes

Excuse the shaky highlighting! Mid chemo and can’t move one arm

Am trying to find the inquest report and failing. Was it published?

The poor poor woman.

My daughter takes a similar mediation and prescribing doctors are explicit - do not give beta blockers or blood pressure medication if your child has vomitti g or diarrhoea as it can cause BP to be dangerously low. I feel so so sad for the boy and his family but that woman alone is not responsible.

Recently had a stay in hospital with one of my children and at times it was a catalogue of errors and delays that out have caused catastrophe. But boy did those staff work their arses of and were as diligent and meticulous as they could be. I felt so sorry for them, the strain they were under!

He was treated appropriately for the sepsis with fluids, oxygen and antibiotics. The severity of the gas was missed but the physical management was the same. He should have been in HDU but he would have received the same treatment. Enalapril is a terrible drug to receive if dehydrated, hupotensive and with renal impairment.

The consultant knew the blood gas result also and did nothing. He absolutely threw her under the bus and this has also been highlighted by lawyers over here.

The reason why many doctors are pleased is because there’s an appreciation that in these unworkable - not just “tough” conditions - everyone at increased risk of errors. Probably her care of pretty much every patient she saw had gaps because with 100 plus patients over a shift it would be literally impossible to do a thorough and safe job with every patient. The focus needs to be on working conditions, consultant support and orientation.

However, when we were admitted the medication was taken straight of us to be prescribed only by the nurse.

The thing that strikes me in all this is not just the tragedy of the appalling conditions under which that doctor was working and the death of the poor little boy, but the stark reality that this sort of thing will happen again and again. The NHS is in a terrible state. Yes, there are pockets of excellence. But the basic fabric is being dismantled and undermined.
I worked in the NHS for 30 years. I watched my son fall apart and die because there was no help for him anywhere.
I am now seriously ill with reduced life expectancy and facing a roller coaster of cancelled appointments, non availability of appointments, horrendous clinic waiting times, no access to treatment until I get a lot worse, it is frightening.
I waited 3 hours to see a doctor in clinic a few weeks ago. A lovely Spanish surgeon who is leaving asap because of Brexit. He was very apologetic about the wait, but explained that the booking system allows 2.5 minutes per patient, which is impossible.
Many wards are being run with only one qualified RN on duty.
Years ago nurses trained in the hospital and had accommodation, food and pay.
Now they have to pay to train.
No wonder there is a shortage.
The way NHS workers are treated puts us all at risk.

It wasn't just the consultant who threw her under the bus, it was her employer too. I'm surprised she wants to work in the NHS, she'd be far better off using her skills in a country that would give her decent working conditions.

Blue I’d be tempted to jump on a plane to Australia I think!

Me too, that was exactly what I had in mind.