Better system is needed to curb rogue doctors
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《英国医生杂志》
Both Clifford Ayling (left) and Richard Neale were able to practise in England until 2000 despite years of complaints
Credit: TIM OCKENDEN/PA
Credit: JOHNY GREEN/PA
Improvements to NHS procedures to catch rogue doctors at an early stage before they inflict harm on patients were called for in two separate reports last week.
The reports from the inquiries into the careers of the struck off doctors, Clifford Ayling and Richard Neale, showed a list of system failures that allowed them to go on practising despite ample warning of their unfitness to practise.
Neale, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, was allowed to practise in England despite having been struck off in Canada in 1985 after an investigation into the deaths of two patients. He worked at Friarage Hospital at Northallerton, Yorkshire, and in Leicester and London before he was erased from the UK medical register in 2000 after he was found guilty of 34 charges of botching women's care.
Ayling, a GP from Folkestone, Kent, was jailed for four years in 2000 after being convicted of 13 counts of indecent assault on patients between 1991 and 1998. Despite complaints dating back to the early 1980s, he was able to go on practising as a GP and in hospitals around Kent for 30 years.
Judge Suzan Matthews, who chaired the Neale inquiry, said: "A sense of complacency undoubtedly contributed to what occurred. There is no room for complacency, and there remains an urgent need for a root and branch change in attitude and culture within the NHS."
She said the most perplexing aspect was how Neale could be struck off in Canada but able to go on practising in the United Kingdom.
The inquiry had acquired "significant evidence" that "confirmed not only had the GMC been fully aware of his history in Canada but had chosen deliberately not to act on this in 1986 and subsequently."
The report called for better employment checks before recruitment and for a new body or for more power to the Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals to oversee the employment of doctors.
The Ayling inquiry's team, headed by high court judge Dame Anna Pauffley, called for guidance for NHS trusts from the chief medical officer on dealing with sexualised behaviour.
The GMC said it was sorry for the way it handled Neale's case in the 1980s. Changes meant the situation could not happen again.(Clare Dyer, legal corresp)
Credit: TIM OCKENDEN/PA
Credit: JOHNY GREEN/PA
Improvements to NHS procedures to catch rogue doctors at an early stage before they inflict harm on patients were called for in two separate reports last week.
The reports from the inquiries into the careers of the struck off doctors, Clifford Ayling and Richard Neale, showed a list of system failures that allowed them to go on practising despite ample warning of their unfitness to practise.
Neale, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, was allowed to practise in England despite having been struck off in Canada in 1985 after an investigation into the deaths of two patients. He worked at Friarage Hospital at Northallerton, Yorkshire, and in Leicester and London before he was erased from the UK medical register in 2000 after he was found guilty of 34 charges of botching women's care.
Ayling, a GP from Folkestone, Kent, was jailed for four years in 2000 after being convicted of 13 counts of indecent assault on patients between 1991 and 1998. Despite complaints dating back to the early 1980s, he was able to go on practising as a GP and in hospitals around Kent for 30 years.
Judge Suzan Matthews, who chaired the Neale inquiry, said: "A sense of complacency undoubtedly contributed to what occurred. There is no room for complacency, and there remains an urgent need for a root and branch change in attitude and culture within the NHS."
She said the most perplexing aspect was how Neale could be struck off in Canada but able to go on practising in the United Kingdom.
The inquiry had acquired "significant evidence" that "confirmed not only had the GMC been fully aware of his history in Canada but had chosen deliberately not to act on this in 1986 and subsequently."
The report called for better employment checks before recruitment and for a new body or for more power to the Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals to oversee the employment of doctors.
The Ayling inquiry's team, headed by high court judge Dame Anna Pauffley, called for guidance for NHS trusts from the chief medical officer on dealing with sexualised behaviour.
The GMC said it was sorry for the way it handled Neale's case in the 1980s. Changes meant the situation could not happen again.(Clare Dyer, legal corresp)