Dear Editor,
As a doctor, I am disappointed by the public humiliation of a colleague in the media. There is no disputing that the case of Dr Patrick Lee (Kilumney, Cork) resulted in patient harm, and a complaint to the Medical Council with a formal FTP hearing was entirely appropriate. In addition, I found the recommendations of the committee an appropriate, if perhaps lenient, sanction.
Dr Lee made a professional error in failing to note and act on recommendations made regarding one of his patients, who now has developed stage-four skin cancer and, according to media reports, faces imminent death. I cannot begin to imagine the anger and frustration felt by this poor patient and his family.
I do not know, nor have I ever met, Dr Lee. I am aware that he is now facing an incredibly dark time: the reality of his error resulting in patient harm, and ultimately death. The impact of such an error on a doctor’s psyche can be devastating.
However, to add a media circus and public humiliation to this, I find frankly unacceptable. The embarrassment of being removed from the register for three months and the stress of having to try and get back to work must feel unbearable.
Legal fees, lack of income and family disharmony must all be adding up. I hope Dr Lee has a good support network to help him face the consequences of his error.
This is not what I want from my Medical Council’s FTP Committee. I want errors addressed, systems recommended to ensure they never happen again, and sanctions imposed. I want support networks in place, like ‘Doctors for Doctors’ run by the British Medical Association. I feel public hearings like this in the absence of such support networks are dangerous to a physician’s mental health, particularly vulnerable junior colleagues.
Our Medical Council must be answerable to the public [in order for it] to be a disciplinary process. Inquiry findings should be released. The issue of whether public inquiry hearings should be the default setting, however, in my opinion is wrong.
I believe it could lead to entirely unintended consequences. Will it take the suicide of an unfortunate physician who made an error against the odds before anyone will take notice of this dangerous situation?
Dr Nigel Salter,
Emergency Medicine SpR, AMNCH, Tallaght.
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