Furthermore, before this incident there were no concerns about Dr Bawa-Garbas fitness to practice. Dr Bawa-Garba gave evidence in her own defence and relied on her previous good character including positive character evidence. If that case came up now, that Court of Appeal judgement would mean that I wouldn’t have appealed that case.’. The Bawa-Garba Case: In February 2011, Jack Adcock, a six year old who had Down’s Syndrome and a known heart condition was admitted to hospital following referral by his GP. They wanted to override The Medical Tribunal Service (a body that decides if doctors can continue to work or not), who deemed that Dr Bawa-Garba should be suspended from work for 12 months. After an appeal to the GMC from Jack’s parents, Dr Bawa-Garba was convicted of gross negligence and given a 2 day suspended sentence. She made a mistake, on the back of incredibly hard working conditions over the course of a 13 hour shift, and a 6 year old boy died. She had recently returned from maternity leave to a new hospital where no induction had been provided. Bawa-Garba was an accomplished trainee. In February 2011 she had recently returned to practice as a Registrar at the Leicester Royal Infirmary Hospital (“the Hospital”) after 14 months of maternity leave. The GMC appealed to the high court to get Dr Bawa-Garba struck off the medical register. We look at Dr Bawa-Garba… Criminal convictions and professional sanctions. The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) said Mr Massey’s admission that his attempt to strike off Dr Bawa-Garba was wrong was ‘long overdue’. bawa-garba. ... ensuring better systems for induction and re-orientation of staff returning to work Bawa-Garba was obviously fatigued owing to the absence of a break during her 13-h shift. Jack Adcock’s death was an industrial accident. Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba was struck off the medical register and given a suspended sentence after Jack Adcock, six, died of sepsis at Leicester Royal Infirmary - but others are equally to blame. The Bawa-Garba case was different with the public details of the case suggesting an over-worked, understaffed NHS with deficiencies in induction, IT and support for doctors. Dr Bawa-Garba ordered blood tests, but due to an IT failure there was a delay in obtaining results. There is an … ‘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. The appeal will now be listed for a full hearing by three Court of Appeal judges later this year. On 8th December 2016 she was denied leave to appeal. He was seen by Dr. Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a trainee paediatrician in her sixth year of speciality training. However, CMR systems are not a panacea and need to be fit for … Bawa-Garba just returned from a circa year-long maternity leave and did not undergo an induction that she ought to have been provided. 6:43. Its true significance lies in what it represents. When she acted on the test results a few hours later she immediately prescribed a course of antibiotics, but these were not administered by the nursing staff until an hour later. On 22 February the GMC announced that it had commissioned Clare Marx, past President owf the Royal College of Surgeons, to lead a UK-wide independent review into how gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide (in Scotland) in healthcare are initiated and investigated in the UK. The accident’s victims included Dr Bawa-Garba and Isabel Amaro. We recognise that it has been very difficult for everyone involved. So the question that came to me was whether or not that criminal conviction itself should lead to suspension or erasure. The monumental Dr Bawa-Garba case has sparked huge media attention and outrage from the medical profession in recent years. Dr Bawa-Garba won her case and is allowed to practice again. In March 2018, Dr Bawa-Garba was granted leave to appeal this decision and the High Court rejected the GMC’s argument that a manslaughter conviction should result in automatic erasure from the register. -Garba, a trainee paediatrician, who had not undergone Trust induction, was looking after six wards spanning 4 floors, undertaking paediatric Dr Bawa-Garba also worked her 13 hour shift without a break and had just returned from maternity leave to a new hospital and had received no induction. ‘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. The case of paediatric registrar, Dr Bawa-Garba has rocked the medical and nursing professions, both in the UK and in Ireland. Dr Bawa-Garba prescribed Jack antibiotics for his pneumonia, but he didn't get them for another hour. They wanted to override The Medical Tribunal Service (a body that decides if doctors can continue to work or not), who deemed that Dr Bawa-Garba should be suspended from work for 12 months. The tribunal decided to suspend Dr Bawa-Garba. Dr Bawa-Garba’s case has raised a number of important issues for us and the medical profession. She was the on-call pediatric registrar – the second in command for the care of sick children at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Dr Bawa-Garba clearly wasn’t wilfully or recklessly negligent; she was overloaded. 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.’. She also requested a chest X ray, which was performed promptly but was not reported on by a radiologist. In a recent BBC Radio 4 interview with DAUK chair Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, Mr Massey said: ‘The GMC wasn’t involved in the criminal process whatsoever. Accordingly, the sanction of erasure has been set aside and the original order of 12 months … Induction at Northampton General Hospital had three key messages a) The QI department is world-beating so get involved, b) Here’s a long list of eLearning modules, and c) Try not to worry about the Bawa-Garba thing. Dr Bawa-Garba was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in 2015 following the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011. © 2020 The Aspiring Medics. The hospital consultants should have ensured a proper re-induction occurred, over several days at least. The significance of Bawa-Garba does not lie in the legal consequences of the case. Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bawa-garba, elearning, induction, nudge, organizational culture, QI | Leave a response. An informed personal enquiry. He said: ‘For the vast majority of doctors where we end up suspending or erasing them they’re not for honest and innocent mistakes against the background of system pressure. Jack died of cardiac arrest as a result of sepsis and a full investigation was conducted. Dr Bawa-Garba was to be erased from the medical register (although an appeal is under way). Dr Bawa-Garba continued to work as a paediatric junior doctor following Jack’s death, and was acknowledged by many of her peers as performing her work to a high standard. Why did Ms Cohen not question Dr Bawa Garba’s being allowed to be the ‘bleep holder’ on her first day back after 14 months on maternity leave (in the ‘Long Read’ but not mentioned in the programme)? Bawa-Garba is struck off the medical register after a successful appeal by the GMC. On this day: Dr Bawa-Garba, a trainee paediatrician, who had not undergone Trust induction, was looking after six wards, spanning 4 floors, undertaking paediatric input to surgical wards 10 and 11, giving advice to midwives and taking GP calls. On the day of the incident, Dr Bawa-Garba was solely in charge of the emergency department and acute Children’s Assessment Unit due to staff shortages and the fact that her consultant was off-site. Lana Spawls writes about the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, who was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of Jack Adcock, a six-year-old boy who was under her care at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011 (LRB, 21 June).Bawa-Garba was struck off the medical register in January 2018, though the Court of Appeal very recently overturned that decision. Dr Bawa-Garba was working a typically standard paediatric shift except that her team was incomplete. They argued that she was personally responsible for many failings that resulted in Jack’s death and was therefore a threat to the public if she continued practicing. 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. She added: ‘To my knowledge this was the first occasion that Charlie Massey accepted publicly that this decision was wrong. After receiving a 24-month suspended sentence for the conviction, the GMC’s Medical Practitioner Tribunal … •Bawa-Garba was supposed to have an induction •This would cover the wards, the patients and how to manage workflow, and to integrate all of Jack’s information into her decision-making •For staffing reasons the induction didn’t happen. This was a case of the tragic death of a child and the consequent criminal conviction of a doctor for gross negligence manslaughter. Pulse is owned by Cogora. Introduction to the ST3 year. It would be interesting to hear from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care any day. ‘I said at the time that I felt I had no option but to appeal that decision. Later that day, Jack’s condition deteriora 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’. She should have spotted the abnormal test results earlier, She should have asked her consultant to review Jack, She should have told Jack’s mother to stop his heart medication. As a “registrar” she was both a master and an apprentice – a juxtaposition of roles necessary for the survival of acute care in the NHS. This site is intended for health professionals only. Bawa Garba was just back from maternity leave, without an induction, working a very busy shift with a computer failure meaning that lab results weren’t available when … Dr Bawa-Garba’s appeal. Dr Bawa-Garba’s is appealing the Divisional Court’s judgment (25 January 2018) that she should be removed from the register. Don't forget to share our website with friends and family. Doctors are encouraged to acknowledge and reflect on mistakes that they have made to improve patient care and safety, yet Dr Bawa-Garba’s reflective E-portfolio was used as evidence against her in court. 2006: Hadiza Bawa-Garba qualifies as a paediatrician. His comments follow a recent independent review of gross negligence, manslaughter and culpable homicide – commissioned by the GMC – that concluded the regulator should take ‘immediate steps’ to rebuild doctors’ trust after relations were damaged following the case of Dr Bawa-Garba. After receiving a 24-month suspended sentence for the conviction, the GMC’s Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service (MPTS) suspended her for one year. This represents a crucial first step in repairing the damage done to the medical profession by the Bawa-Garba case. Dr Bawa-Garba was six years into the speciality training, so Jack’s condition was something that she should have been trained for. Are skin colour, facial appearance and gender the elephant in the room? Criminal convictions and professional sanctions. Dr Bawa-Garba was in no state to face sustained police questioning and sign documents. Dr Hannah Laidley, AFY2, University of Leicester Quality improvement work can feel inescapable. The GMC appealed to the high court to get Dr Bawa-Garba struck off the medical register. Dr Bawa-Garba is a junior doctor specialising in paediatrics. The role of criminal law and medical manslaughter in cases where doctors make mistakes must be rethought, a leading professor of health law and ethics has said. The Bawa-Garba case. https://www.theguardian.com/.../hadiza-bawa-garba-doctor-make-same-mistake This all comes at a time when the roles of the professional regulators are up for consultation. ‘But I do recognise completely that question about system context, pressure and that’s why the GMC has stepped much more into this territory about thinking “how do we influence that context more effectively”? In June 2017, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal suspended Dr Bawa-Garba for 12 months saying that “erasure would be disproportionate”. The high profile case involving Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba raised questions about how the context in which doctors work should be considered when evaluating their fitness to practise and performance. Dr Bawa-Garba, a senior paediatric trainee who had been involved in the care of a child who died shortly after admission to hospital, was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter and subsequently erased from the medical register. Dr Bawa-Garba appealed the decision of the High Court and was successful. Although she was two years from becoming a consultant, there were occasions when she was responsible for looking after very sick children, and saved many lives. Lawrence Weed proposed we develop computerised, problem-oriented medical records that guide and teach. a specialist registrar in year six of her postgraduate training (ST6) with an ‘impeccable’ record. He died from a cardiac arrest caused by sepsis just 11 hours after hospital admission. The captain of the ship and Dr Bawa-Garba's supervisor, Dr O'Riordan, was not in the hospital but teaching in a nearby city. Dr Bawa-Garba also worked her 13 hour shift without a break and had just returned from maternity leave to a new hospital and had received no induction. The Implications of the Bawa-Garba Case Fiona Drysdale, Advocate Introduction At the start I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking today about a case in which a child died in tragic circumstances and that his loss was devastating to his family. 1. Jack had Down’s syndrome and a heart condition. Both were subsequently struck off their respective professional registers, although Bawa-Garba had that decision overturned at appeal. However, the GMC appealed its tribunal’s decision and called for the doctor to be struck off. They argued that she was, The Dr Bawa-Garba case has made many doctors question their practice and working environments, with doctors acknowledging that they could have made the same mistakes working in the same circumstances (. Bawa-Garba was suspended from the medical register for 12 months last June but the General Medical Council (GMC) appealed, saying this was "not sufficient to protect the public".