The GMC, couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery

They really are in another world is the GMC, The doctor who has been suspended from practising in the UK after failing to spot Baby P's broken back two days before he died is still entitled to work in Ireland.

Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat was the last medic to see tragic toddler Baby P and failed to notice his injuries – inflicted after horrendous abuse by his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.

Dr Al-Zayyat (53) was suspended from practising by the General Medical Council in the UK last November while an investigation takes place.

A spokesperson for the Irish Medical Council told the Herald: “Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat’s name is entered on the General Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners and as such she is entitled to work in Ireland.

“The Medical Council is aware of matters under consideration by the General Medical Council that are in the public domain.”

Meanwhile, it is understood that Dr Al-Zayyat is suing Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, for unfair dismissal following the decision not to renew her fixed term contract.

She is expected to claim that she was never shown the child’s medical history and so was not given an opportunity to realise he was the long-term victim of abuse.

Her case may also focus on a shortage of doctors at St Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham, which is run by the Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust.

Lawyers are also likely to argue that she is a scapegoat for wider failings in the child’s care. Last year she issued a statement saying: “Like everyone involved in this case, I have been deeply affected by the shocking and tragic circumstances of this young child’s death.”

She added that her professional career had been devoted to the care of children. Baby P, whose name has recently been revealed as Peter, died after months of sadistic torture in one of the worst cases of child abuse the UK has ever seen.

Dr Al-Zayyat has previously worked in a number of hospitals in Ireland between 1999 and 2006.

They HSE told the Herald that it has no records of complaints against her.

How does the GMC tenet go again? Oh yes:

The duties of a doctor registered with the General Medical Council

Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. To justify that trust you must show respect for human life and you must:

Make the care of your patient your first concern

Protect and promote the health of patients and the public

Provide a good standard of practice and care

Keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date

Recognise and work within the limits of your competence

Work with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients' interests

Treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity

Treat patients politely and considerately

Respect patients' right to confidentiality

Work in partnership with patients

Listen to patients and respond to their concerns and preferences

Give patients the information they want or need in a way they can understand

Respect patients' right to reach decisions with you about their treatment and care

Support patients in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health

Be honest and open and act with integrity

Act without delay if you have good reason to believe that you or a colleague may be putting patients at risk

Never discriminate unfairly against patients or colleagues

Never abuse your patients' trust in you or the public's trust in the profession.

You are personally accountable for your professional practice and must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions.


And the GMC tenet for itself:

Role of the GMC

The purpose of the General Medical Council (GMC) is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.

The law gives us four main functions under the Medical Act 1983:

Keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors

Fostering good medical practice

Promoting high standards of medical education

Dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt.

Protecting the public

The General Medical Council is the independent regulator for doctors in the UK. Our statutory purpose is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.

We do that by controlling entry to the medical register and setting the educational standards for medical schools. We also determine the principles and values that underpin good medical practice and we take firm but fair action where those standards have not been met.

We have strong and effective legal powers designed to maintain the standards the public have a right to expect of doctors. We are not here to protect the medical profession - their interests are protected by others. Our job is to protect patients

.
Where any doctor fails to meet those standards, we act to protect patients from harm - if necessary, by removing the doctor from the register and removing their right to practise medicine.

Independence and accountability

Patients’ interests are best served by independent, accountable regulation. The GMC must be independent of government as the dominant provider of healthcare in the UK; independent of domination by any single group; and be publicly accountable for the discharge of its functions.
Independent, accountable regulation must:

Put patient safety first

Support good medical practice

Promote fairness and equality and value diversity

Respect the principles of good regulation: proportionality, accountability, consistency, transparency and targeting

Yeah right!

Angus

Angus Dei on all and sundry

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