High Court tightens conditions under which Southall may practise
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《英国医生杂志》
The British consultant paediatrician David Southall should not be erased from the medical register, a High Court judge ruled last week. Professor Southall accused a father of murdering two of his baby sons after watching him on television.
The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) had challenged the General Medical Council's decision not to strike Professor Southall off for accusing Stephen Clark of double murder on the basis of the televised interview. The CHRE, which oversees the regulation of healthcare professions, had argued that the three year ban from child protection work imposed by the GMC was "unduly lenient."
But Mr Justice Collins ruled that, although Professor Southall had "neither the sense nor the humility" to retract his "seriously flawed" allegations, the GMC had acted reasonably in allowing him to continue to work as a consultant paediatrician. However, he decided that the conditions imposed on the ban needed to be tightened and that it should be reviewed before the end of the three years to see if any conditions should be continued.
Professor Southall, who is professor of paediatrics at Keele University, must do no more than alert the relevant child protection doctor if he believes a child needs protecting. He must also give the GMC details of any such reports every six months.
Professor Southall was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the GMC last August. After seeing Stephen Clark interviewed on a Channel 4 Dispatches programme in 2000, he had contacted the child protection team and had later written a report claiming that Mr Clark's guilt was "certain or near certain" ( BMJ 2004;329: 366). Mr Clark's wife, Sally, was then serving a life sentence for murdering the couple's baby sons Christopher and Harry. Her conviction was quashed in 2003.
But Professor Southall became convinced that her husband had tried to smother Christopher and that the couple's surviving child was at risk, after hearing Mr Clark describe a nosebleed experienced by Christopher at a London hotel in 1996. Christopher died at home aged 11 weeks, nine days after the incident.(Clare Dyer, legal correspondent)
The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) had challenged the General Medical Council's decision not to strike Professor Southall off for accusing Stephen Clark of double murder on the basis of the televised interview. The CHRE, which oversees the regulation of healthcare professions, had argued that the three year ban from child protection work imposed by the GMC was "unduly lenient."
But Mr Justice Collins ruled that, although Professor Southall had "neither the sense nor the humility" to retract his "seriously flawed" allegations, the GMC had acted reasonably in allowing him to continue to work as a consultant paediatrician. However, he decided that the conditions imposed on the ban needed to be tightened and that it should be reviewed before the end of the three years to see if any conditions should be continued.
Professor Southall, who is professor of paediatrics at Keele University, must do no more than alert the relevant child protection doctor if he believes a child needs protecting. He must also give the GMC details of any such reports every six months.
Professor Southall was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the GMC last August. After seeing Stephen Clark interviewed on a Channel 4 Dispatches programme in 2000, he had contacted the child protection team and had later written a report claiming that Mr Clark's guilt was "certain or near certain" ( BMJ 2004;329: 366). Mr Clark's wife, Sally, was then serving a life sentence for murdering the couple's baby sons Christopher and Harry. Her conviction was quashed in 2003.
But Professor Southall became convinced that her husband had tried to smother Christopher and that the couple's surviving child was at risk, after hearing Mr Clark describe a nosebleed experienced by Christopher at a London hotel in 1996. Christopher died at home aged 11 weeks, nine days after the incident.(Clare Dyer, legal correspondent)