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NEWS: Owen Dyer GMC strikes Southall off medical register for serious professional misconduct BMJ 2007; 335: 1174-a [Full text]

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The long shadow of Cleveland.

William G. Pickering   (10 December 2007)

The GMC strikes out and strikes off again

David Isaacs   (11 December 2007)

The long shadow of Cleveland. 10 December 2007
William G. Pickering, Doctor 7 Moor Place, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE3 4AL. Send response to journal: Re: The long shadow of Cleveland.	The long shadow of Cleveland. 2004: Southall inappropriate accusations. 2007: Southall inappropriate accusations. 1980s: Cleveland inappropriate accusations [1]. Why the disparity in punishment dispensed? If the sensory inattention of the Royal Colleges and GMC in the 1980s had been replaced by rudimentary appreciation of right and wrong, had simple insight and decency crushed aggressive zealotry at that time, Southall (and many, many others) might never have happened. It is called accountability [2,3,4]. It was called for in the 1980s [2]. And still there is none; until the press have blown their horns, until it is too late, until the prolonged damage is done. That the simpering, defensive Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, brimful of humanity towards their members, should be piously “saddened and disappointed” at the punishment of one of their own, is exactly what the problem is and remains in the UK health services. Blindness at the highest level. Status and status quo must be preserved, avoidable adverse outcomes to the public are, by contrast, a comparative irrelevance. William G Pickering 7.12.07 wgpi@hotmail.com References: 1. Butler-Schloss (Lord). Report of the committee of inquiry into child sexual abuse in Cleveland 1987. Presented to the Secretary of State for Social Services by the Right Honourable Lord Butler-Schloss DBE. London: HMSO, 1988. (Cm 412.) 2. Pickering W G. Glasnost and the medical inspectorate. J R Coll Gen Pract 1988; 38: 517-8. 3. Pickering W G. An independent medical inspectorate. In: Gladstone D, ed. Regulating doctors. London: Institute for the Study of Civil Society, 2000: 47-63.(CIVITAS) 4. Pickering W G. Systematic clinical accountability is required BMJ, Nov 2003; 327: 1109 ; Competing interests: None declared
The GMC strikes out and strikes off again 11 December 2007
David Isaacs, Clinical Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia Send response to journal: Re: The GMC strikes out and strikes off again	The GMC lost face when their decision to strike Sir Roy Meadow off the register for giving evidence in child protection cases was ruled unduly harsh by the Court of Appeal. Now, for the second time, they have pursued David Southall and struck him off, too. All doctors have an obligation to act responsibly and be answerable; paediatricians claim no exemption. We paediatricians are outraged, however, because (i) we think that doctors should not be punished unduly when they act in good faith for the protection of children; (ii) that the decision and publicity surrounding these cases gives unwarranted ammunition to anti-child abuse lobby groups, and (iii) that paediatricians may be deterred from child protection work if they feel that they are likely to be dealt with more harshly than their colleagues. David Isaacs (davidi@chw.edu.au) Competing interests: None declared