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Police surgeons & the criminal justice system
- Karin Englehart (8 August 2000)
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Karin Englehart
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Editor - I am entirely in agreement with the sentiments expressed in Dr. Stark's letter in the BMJ of the 29th July. In my view, it is the slightly misconceived idea of the current role of the clinical forensic medicine specialist, as outlined in Career Focus, that is responsible for the general lack of adequate training. In many areas of the country, the majority of police surgeons are general practitioners who undertake the work as a sideline; no doubt, this is, at least partially, because the volume and timescale of the work make it impractical to appoint a smaller number of individuals on a full-time basis. So long as a police surgeon is perceived only as a taker of blood from drunken drivers, the current lack of proper training will continue. Many GPs, who perhaps see the other part of their role as limited to attendance on drunks and drug users in the police station, may also feel that further training is unnecessary. It is not until they are actually faced with the need to assess the mentally ill, deal with cases of sexual assault or abuse, and give evidence in court that they realise how much they have missed by not undergoing training. As Dr. Stark points out, there are some excellent training course available but, at present, in the absence (except in some more far sighted authorities) of a requirement for compulsory training, there is little apparent incentive. In my view, there is no excuse for any police surgeon not to receive an adequate training in the many aspects of their job and I believe that such training should become a compulsory requirement for all such surgeons. Karin Englehart |
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