Doctor and nurse struck off

Reading the account given, it certainly seems that the doctor and nurse have been unfairly treated. It appears that the situation on the ward, with staff absences and faulty IT equipment, was chaotic. And surely a doctor should receive proper induction before being placed in such a position of responsibility on such a busy and under-staffed ward?

I'm not surprised so many doctors and nurses suffer from anxiety, depression and burnout.

To put the other side, she had a professional duty and responsibility to work within her sphere of competence - she was an experienced doctor and should not have started work without induction or when she wasn’t up to what was being asked of her.

maryeliza Did you read the whole link, particularly:

"On this day: Dr Bawa-Garba, a trainee paediatrician, who had not undergone Trust induction, was looking after six wards, spanning 4 floors, undertaking paediatric input to surgical wards 10 and 11, giving advice to midwives and taking GP calls."

It seems to me that the situation was absolutely chaotic and intrinsically unsafe. If this is in any way reflective of how our NHS is operating now, it is a wonder that there are not more terrible tragedies of this nature.

She has been the scapegoat. Was there no sanctioning of the trust that put her into this impossible situation?

Never get ill early in the house doctors changeover time of year - you are surrounded by folk who have only the vaguest idea what they are doing. The system works if there are sufficient experience doctors (and indeed nurses) around to guide them.

maryeliza, should the doctor have walked off and left the patients with no doctor at all?

Some NHS trusts are not even waiting till doctors qualify before they ask them to work outside their competence
www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/14/inexperienced-medical-students-urged-volunteer-nhs-winter-crisis-worsens
Of course, if someone isn’t even on the Medical Register, it saves the GMC the trouble of striking them off, doesn’t it?

Maryeliza you’ve obviously never worked in a situation where your professionalism is compromised by a gross lack of resources and a lack of appropriate support from the senior staff and management.
If you want to really know how the NHS exploits its staff, read Adam Kay’s book ‘This is going to Hurt’ - an account of how a dedicated young doctor gave up before he found himself in Dr Bawa Gaba’s situation.

Her colleagues are supporting her www.channel4.com/news/doctors-protest-over-struck-off-paediatrician

Oh dear - all I said was that there was another side - I’m very aware of the issues that the NHS and other public services have with resources, staffing etc but to deny there IS another side issue is not very balanced - were is the line drawn between professional responsibility and simply blaming the system? And no matter how poor the system is, professional ethics has a role. I remember the Bristol Children’s heart surgery case - the system was shambolic for years and for years, professionals failed to speak up. The doctor who finally did became a persona non grata, was ostracised by his colleagues and moved abroad to work. This current case is an extreme example but doesn’t mean that her professional responsibilities are negated.

The treatment of whistle blowers never seems to result in praise for highlighting problems. They're more likely to be made redundant and their professionalism criticised and found wanting. The fact that so many doctors are supporting the doctor in this case, along with the facts about her work environment suggest she has been treated unfairly and scapegoated for a system that is at breaking point.

You blame the system when the system is to blame and clearly it was in this situation

That poor young doctor. I'm glad she's receiving support - too late for her though. What unreasonable work circumstances to expect her to work in.

What an appalling story. I feel that the doctor and nurse have both been scapegoated?it makes me cross when people who have no idea criticise front line staff in any of the caring professions nobody goes into these kinds of jobs without wanting to do their best! The pressures of lack of resources and poor staffing are horrendous! This poor woman seems to have been covering an impossible work load nearly single handed and on call for over 13 hours??
Also the part about her baby being deprived of milk because the police were questioning her ! How was that a decent thing to do! My own 3 DD were breast fed and would not accept bottles ( MIL) tried once when looking after eldest! it’s lucky the baby didn’t get dehydrated.
What an awful waste too of two very expensive training careers, years of training for both doctor and nurse all thrown to one side ?

It sounds like yet another situation where nobody is prepared to speak up.
I'm sure the doctors and nurses must have had someone they could report to, and opportunity to make it known that potentially dangerous errors were being made due to working conditions.

maryeliza of course professionals have a duty to work within their competence.
But the NHS is a monopoly employer for junior doctors in training and as Iam says, anyone speaking out about the conditions quickly finds him or herself ostracised and probably out of a job.
If you were on your first day back after maternity leave and found yourself in Dr Bawa-Garba’s position, with no induction and no senior colleagues on duty, and no nursing support, would you really have had the courage to walk to the Chief Executive’s office to voice your concerns?

The Bristol case was more complicated than you imply. One of the reasons for the ‘poor’ outcomes was that the unit took on far more high risk cases with poor prognoses than other units did.

It is interesting that medical students are being asked to help; and also the statement that cannulas can only be inserted by nurses or "qualified doctors" - my OH was bombing round the wares inserting cannulas when he was a student - it is only a recent development that students do not learn this in their course and only start to do it when they qualify.

There was an item on the local news about lots of other hospital workers being enlisted on the wards - admin staff etc. - presumably not doing medical or nursing tasks we hope.

Medical students already help on the wards as part of their training. My daughter is a student medic and has been inserting cannula since the start of her fourth year.

Anyone speaking out seems to be pursued and harassed by the GMC after being wrongly sacked

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11870801.GMC_finally_abandons_investigation_into_wrongly_sacked_whistleblower_doctor/

It's not as though we're short of surgeons!