..... who have been medically abused - either  physically, sexually, verbally,or in writing - and those who have  been denied medical care, getting together, networking,  uniting, obtaining publicity so their voice and the truth can be heard. So becoming a force to reckon with. Good doctors and nurses have nothing to fear!

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    29TH JANUARY 2002

 His memo  states he believes that giving into the demand for  these inquiries would be disastrous because they are all "problem doctor" cases. QUITE SO!! but isn't that the very reason for doing the investigations ? What moral justification is there for leaving "problem" doctors loose in the system?

From his letter it emerges that the NHS expects up to 50 scandals every year ( only 50 ? SIN would put the figure much higher) in which doctors have maimed or killed patients in botched operations (  not to forget  mis-diagnoses and wrong drug treatment) and subjected them to verbal, physical or sexual abuse. (and denial of medical care)

The D.o.H has already  agreed to two major Public Inquiries : the Bristol Babies  & the Shipman scandals. But think about this: everyone knew about these scandals - all the facts were in the public domain.  - the Inquiries were almost unnecessary  So, the strange logic is that you must have proved publicly  there is a scandal ie. by going to the GMC and who can get a case through the GMC unless you have a backing of a doctor? The cost of these huge public inquires is about £10 mill. each and the times scale is long - two years.

 These Inquiries should concentrate on:"Who  knew what  & when".
Who raised concerns about the doctors in question ?
To whom did they raise these concerns & when?
What did  did these people  do about the doctors in question when told?
Which people knew that patients were being damaged, but did nothing and why?

Accountability should be established. OOPS!  Sorry, we have just mentioned the taboo word : "accountability"!  In a just, democratic society, people should be responsible for  their own actions or inactions. To collude with incompetence and malpractice which brings harm to innocent patients cannot be tolerated. One can say " lessons will be learned " ad infinitum, but one must never, never,  not  for one second, breathe the word " accountability"

The article goes on to state that the reason the NHS is resisting g these demands for public inquiries is because they will be so costly and the NHS is short of funds. Huge Inquiries like the BRI Inquiry cost over £10mill. However, we believe this is a red herring, more likely the BMA has put a veto on further embarrassing inquiries! What is needed are smaller Tribunals which are really, yes really, independent of the govt. and which can examine the facts presented by the patient  and investigate  into these KNOWN scandals of patient abuse. The bad apples must go! Who is saying they must remain?

The alternative is to go on as we have been doing for the last 50 years - with a denial and cover up culture. We have paid a heavy price for this for without honesty & accountability there can be no quality control SIN believes that to ignore these scandals is very short-sighted 

• Standards have been falling. 
•  Wrong kind of  message  to our junior doctors:  they see (high ranking) consultants being incompetent , malpractising and even being malicious to innocent patients and then getting away with it for years. 
•  corruption of the medical profession: -doctors must be allowed to tell the truth!
• Confidence in the medical profession is plumeting and this will not stop until the denial and cover-up culture ceases!
• A growing number of victims of substandard care and medical abuse who are suffering

We are saddened that this memo was written by Prof. Donaldson because when we have heard him speak at the BMA/BMJ conferences he has always said the right thing and so we had confidence in him. In March 2000 at the " Medical Errors " Conference, he told the doctors present that patients would not accept a "no blame culture " that they were demanding a culture of accountability. Yet he has now signed up to a " no blame pact"! He also said at the same conference that one of the deadly sins was " to avert the gaze" ie. to turn a blind eye! At the Ethics Conference in February 2001 he told the assembled doctors that they must not go around saying that there were no more scandals, because patients would not believe them. He added that there  were more  major scandals in the pipeline!

The NHS has been likened to a giant carbuncle, which has received no treatment for decades. Now and again there is a small eruption and the pus runs out. What is needed is for someone  brave enough to take a sharp scalpel and lance this festering sore. Then a period of healing will follow. Otherwise, this carbuncle, which is now very angry and throbbing violently will erupt explosively - making the healing more difficult. For the sake of the innocent suffering victims  and also for the well being  of the medical profession, we urge that these long standing scandals are addressed.

What is the abused patient to do?  The NHS Complaints Procedure is a  cruel farce. Few can go to law and those that do have little chance of succeeding because of the "rigged" bias in favour of the medical profession. The GMC is dysfunctional

We believe the government has lifted the lid on Pandora's Box, has seen what is in there, has lost its nerve,  and is now struggling to close the box. SIN emphasises that we support good doctors and good practice: we are against bad practice and bad doctors. We believe that there is more bad practice than bad doctors.  But it is obvious from the above newspaper headline that  there are  far to many  substandard  and malicious doctors in the system and these dangerous doctors must be exposed  and removed  - for the sake of the vulnerable patient  and for the well being of the medical profession.
 
 

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30th January, 2002

This article appeared in the  Observer in the issue dated 26th November, 2001, was written by Cristina Odone and sent to us by a member.

SIN applauds the sentiments expressed in this article because they coincide with the experiences of our members. It is interesting to give some quotes

This opinion is even shared by the  retiring president of the GMC, Sir Donald Irvine who called for :" an end to continuing arrogance, paternalism and complacency" of the medical profession.

The author concludes by saying the internet is going to give patients much more power and in the end the medical profession will lose their dominant superiority. 

* One of our members will closely relate to this comment. Her young son was operated on by a neuro-surgeon who had a reputation for being an alcoholic and the family had indeed smelt the drink on his breath. It was rumoured that he had a bottle of alcohol  in a cupboard in his consulting room, and cleaners had found a crate of beer.   The surgeon damaged permanently her son. The mother made a complaint and went to law.  Long afterwards she discovered by chance he had been suspended and he had  eventually left the hospital. He is now practising as  a medical  "expert . witness" for medico-legal cases! The son's case, as usual, went nowhere. He  remains seriously damaged with an uncertain prognosis, and is unable to obtain medical care because to give him this care would be to acknowledge that something has gone wrong and would give more evidence for a successful law suit.