Re: David Oliver: The Bawa-Garba case, doctors, and the GMC—what next?
Doctors should never be subjected to criminal charges concerning the outcome of their practice.
A special medical court has to be initiated in every single country. The case of Dr Bawa-Garba, which touches the heart of every sincere doctor, is an example of how system errors in the NHS are being twisted to be a personal error in an ugly shame and blame attitude. A root cause analysis based on a fish bone model in analysis of health care and industrial errors would be the ideal approach if there is a specialized medical court. The community is now punishing a dedicated young doctor as an example to all doctors. Corrective actions can be suggested as follows.
1. The introduction of computer assisted diagnosis may minimize the personal error in diagnosis and minimize the legal burden on doctors during their emergency shifts.
2. Setting standards for work hours and minimum number of doctors in each round.
3. Each medical student has to sign a consent on his criminal responsibilty on any medical error in order to put the necessary pressure on the legislative bodies to stop considering medical errors as a homocide.
4. I am not an expert on British law but I have a question: Concerning Dr Bawa-Garba’s case can a plea that she didn't sign any paper on her criminal responsibity on her unintended practice errors in her application papers for the job as a paediatrian make a legal point for a retrial?
Rapid Response:
Re: David Oliver: The Bawa-Garba case, doctors, and the GMC—what next?
Doctors should never be subjected to criminal charges concerning the outcome of their practice.
A special medical court has to be initiated in every single country. The case of Dr Bawa-Garba, which touches the heart of every sincere doctor, is an example of how system errors in the NHS are being twisted to be a personal error in an ugly shame and blame attitude. A root cause analysis based on a fish bone model in analysis of health care and industrial errors would be the ideal approach if there is a specialized medical court. The community is now punishing a dedicated young doctor as an example to all doctors. Corrective actions can be suggested as follows.
1. The introduction of computer assisted diagnosis may minimize the personal error in diagnosis and minimize the legal burden on doctors during their emergency shifts.
2. Setting standards for work hours and minimum number of doctors in each round.
3. Each medical student has to sign a consent on his criminal responsibilty on any medical error in order to put the necessary pressure on the legislative bodies to stop considering medical errors as a homocide.
4. I am not an expert on British law but I have a question: Concerning Dr Bawa-Garba’s case can a plea that she didn't sign any paper on her criminal responsibity on her unintended practice errors in her application papers for the job as a paediatrian make a legal point for a retrial?
Competing interests: No competing interests