The case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba has shaken medical professionals since the High Court made a ruling in favour of the GMC to have the junior doctor struck off the medical register in January this year.
This was related to her involvement in the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock, of which you can read all about here.
Here is a timeline of what has happened following the controversial verdict:
30 January 2018
In light of the Dr Bawa-Garba case, the GMC announces a review of how gross negligence manslaughter is applied to medical practice, which was initially led by Dame Clare Marx and later taken over by Leslie Hamilton after Dame Clare was appointed the next GMC chair. Meanwhile, an influential international doctors group accuses the GMC of treating black and minority ethnic doctors ‘differently and harshly’, following the High Court case.
31 January 2018
Dr Bawa-Garba’s defence body releases a statement saying e-portfolio reflections were not used against her in court, despite ‘wide misreporting’ that they were. But Pulse uncovers that her reflections were used in court, from a document submitted as evidence by the on-call consultant on the day.
7 February 2018
Following a crowd funding campaign, which raised over £335,000, Dr Bawa-Garba decides to appeal the ruling, and considers appealing the manslaughter conviction from 2015.
6 February 2018
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt announces a review into the application of gross negligence manslaughter charges in medicine in light of the Dr Bawa-Garba case.
12 February 2018
The GMC refutes claims that there was discrimination in its decision to launch a High Court bid. In response to an open letter from the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the GMC said the accusations were ‘troubling and without merit’.
19 February 2018
The GMC is criticised by their regulator, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), for striking off Dr Bawa-Garba from the medical register. The PSA said the bid was ‘without merit’, according to an unpublished review of the case.
13 March 2018
GMC chair Professor Terence Stephenson says he is ‘extremely sorry’ for the distress caused to the medical profession by the Dr Bawa-Garba case.
19 March 2018
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust releases its serious incident report in to the death of Jack Adcock, which was completed six months after his death. The report says that there was no ‘single root cause’ behind the six-year-old’s death.
29 March 2018
Dr Bawa-Garba is granted permission to appeal the High Court’s decision to allow the GMC to strike of the junior doctor. Meanwhile, the BMA applies and is later permitted to advise the Court of Appeal in the case.
23 April 2018
The GMC announces the launch of its review into why black and minority ethnic doctors are more likely to face complaints from employers than their white colleagues, which is to be co-led by researcher Roger Kline and Dr Doyin Atewologun.
11 June 2018
Department of Health and Social Care’s ‘rapid review’ into medical gross negligence manslaughter concludes that the GMC should longer be able to appeal decisions made by its own tribunal regarding fitness-to-practise decisions.
27 June 2018
The BMA supports a vote of no confidence in the GMC in light of the Bawa-Garba case at its Annual Representative Meeting.
3 July 2018
Despite the conclusions of the DHSC’s ‘rapid review’ in gross negligence manslaughter, the GMC tells Pulse it is not intending to halt appeals against its own fitness-to-practise tribunal until the law is changed.
25-26 July 2018
Dr Bawa-Garba’s appeal of the High Court decision that saw her struck off the medical register is heard in the High Court over one and a half days. Dr Bawa-Garba said after the hearing that she is ‘whole-heartedly sorry’ for her mistakes, while Jack’s mother Nicola Adcock says she ‘will cause a public uproar’ if Dr Bawa-Garba is reinstated.
13 August 2018
The Court of Appeal judges rule in favour of Dr Bawa-Garba, restoring the MPTS decision that she should be suspended from the medical register rather than erased. The judges said the matter has been passed to the MPTS ‘for review of Dr Bawa-Garba’s suspension’.
June 2019
GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said he ‘completely accepts’ the legal advice he was given to pursue the striking off of Dr Bawa-Garba was ‘not correct’.
For more on the Bawa-Garba case – click here
Sources:
Mr Justice Nicol, Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), 8 December 2016
Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service Decision Dr Bawa-Garba. MPTS. 13 June 2017
High Court, December 2017 – reports from court reporter
