Dame Janet's disappointments: It's not that easy to keep an eye on each other

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1275-a

BMJ 2006;332:1275 (27 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1275-a

Letter

Dame Janet's disappointments

It's not that easy to keep an eye on each other

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Firstly, can we put Harold Shipman aside?^{1 2} Whathe did was horrible, but basing a system of revalidation onthe actions of a psychopathic mass murderer is absurd. No matterwhat system is put in place, it will not stop the psychopath,just as all the fences in the world will not stop a suicidebomber.

The whole problem with keeping an eye on one another is no oneknows what we are keeping an eye on. What is a "good enough"doctor? We can all enumerate the qualities of a "good" doctor—compassionate,knowledgeable, in possession of clinical skills, and dependablewith a healthy dose of common sense, for starters. But can wedefine the doctor who needs to be struck off? That is a wholedifferent story. Sadly, and I am not surprised Dame Janet doesn'tget this as I suspect she inhabits the black and white . . . [Full text of this article]

William E Osmun, family doctor

Mount Brydges, Ontario, Canada N0L 1W0 ted@smhc.net