Thousands of doctors have signed a letter protesting against the decision to strike off a doctor whose mistakes led a six-year-old boy to die from sepsis.
Jack Adcock, who had Down’s syndrome and a heart condition, died after trainee paediatrician Hadiza Bawa-Garba marked him ‘do not resuscitate’ because she had confused him with another patient.
The doctor was convicted of manslaughter through gross negligence in 2015 but was suspended from practising for just 12 months, which the General Medical Council appealed against.
In the run-up to the appeal, around 800 doctors signed a letter supporting her. It was claimed she was being shielded by her peers after doctors last year said the pursuit of Bawa-Garba was ‘perpetuating an injustice’ against her.
Last week, despite their protestations, the initial decision by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service not to strike Bawa-Garba off, but to give her a year’s suspension instead, was overturned.
