From time to time I moan about our increasing enthusiasm for lawyers, trials and long drawn out inquiries when things go wrong, most recently at reference 1.
Today I notice an article by Lana Spawls about a death which should not have been in the 'London Review of Books' of 21st June, with Ms. Spawls being a young doctor who finds the time and energy to write articles for newspapers.
The death, of a six year old boy, with Down's syndrome among other complaints, occurred in February 2011 in the Leicester Royal Infirmary. The doctor involved, a paediatric registrar, was found guilty of something called manslaughter by gross negligence (a verdict which is not available in Scotland), was given a suspended prison sentence and was afterwards struck off, earlier this year.
Speaking for myself, I do not care for the use of the criminal justice system to deal with matters of this sort, except in truly exceptional circumstances. While the circumstances in this case appear to be more a matter of the staff involved in the care of this boy being grossly overworked.
Politicians, the media and the public at large ask the impossible of the medical profession - and then blame those at the sharp end when the inevitable mistakes happen. I dare say that something of the sort will be the upshot of the Grenfell inquiry, except that this time it will not be the medical profession in the firing line.
Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/06/catastrophes.html.
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