Friday 27 May 2011

GMC gets it wrong

Just when you cut the GMC some slack and agree with one of their actions they go and spoil it all.

A locum surgeon in Hereford operated on an 8 year old girl to take out her appendix, but removed an ovary instead. I think even most medical students know their anatomy better than that and this can be nothing other than gross incompetence. She did not even realise what she had done, the error being discovered by a presumably bemused histopathologist examining the specimen.

So what do the GMC do about it. Nothing.

The GMC stated “Her actions fell seriously below the standard expected but it was an isolated case and there was no need to issue a warning” and “the doctor did not pose a risk to patients and that confidence in the profession had not been undermined as a result of her actions.”
The doctor has now done three appendicectomies under supervision and the GMC think that that is enough to allow her to be let loose on patients again. The GMC further stated “it was not necessary to issue Dr Abdullah with a warning and she remains eligible to apply for work in the UK.”
One of the unacceptable aspects of the GMC is that the panels that make these decisions are anonymous, even the accused doctor does not know who they are. Which is a shame because I would like to write to these clueless fuckwits to ask one simple question.

Would you let this doctor operate on your young daughter?

5 comments:

  1. Ah, but clinical competence appears to be pretty low down the GMC's concerns, far below such heinous moral crimes as misappropriating trust parking permits.

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  2. Why do we have these locums?
    Sad and sadder still to have such a GMC.

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  3. Dr Z

    I have referred you multiple times to the variable tests of misconduct and fitness to practise used by the GMC. There is no point whinging about the way the GMC does things. If doctors wanted to make a difference, they would write to the GMC with their objections - they don't and if you extrapolate this inertia, it will spill over into revalidation.

    Rita

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  4. I am the mother of the girl who was operated on by Dr Abdullah. I have found it very hard to accept that the doctor did not even receive a warning. I wasn't told when the hearing would be, and found out the outcome from the newspapers. The GMC would do well to consider the families involved in cases like this.

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    1. Thank you for your contribution. I had no idea the GMC had treated you so inconsiderately, though, sadly, it does not surprise me. The GMC is a supremely indifferent and inconsistent organisation and seems not to care about how it's arbitrary decisions affect peoples's lives. Thank you again. DZ

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