Attorney
general to review paediatrician's cases
http://society.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2017339,00.html
Guardian
- 20th February 2007
The attorney
general, Lord Goldsmith, is to review cases that involved the consultant
paediatrician David Southall as a prosecution witness, it was announced
today.
Professor Southall, who has been accused of acting inappropriately,
is currently facing a General Medical Council (GMC) hearing.
The doctor
is alleged to have kept around 4,450 "special" case files
on children, which were not stored on the child's proper hospital
record. These included some cases that later involved a criminal
prosecution.
Lord Goldsmith's
spokesman said there were concerns that proper disclosure of medical
records may not have been made.
The review
will go back more than 10 years, examining all 4,450 of the special
files created by Prof Southall, who practised from London's Royal
Brompton hospital and the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in
Stoke-on-Trent.
In a written
ministerial statement, the attorney general said: "It is said
that Prof Southall kept so-called special case files containing
original medical records relating to his patients that were not
also kept on the child's proper hospital file.
"Concerns
have been raised that, in some of those cases, criminal proceedings
may have been taken but the existence of the files not revealed,
resulting in their not being disclosed as part of the prosecution
process. I share those concerns.
"What
is not clear at this stage is the nature and extent of the failure
of disclosure, if such it be.
"I
have therefore decided that I will conduct an assessment of the
cases where Prof Southall was instructed as a prosecution witness
to determine if any special case files existed in any cases involving
criminal proceedings. Once that assessment has been completed, I
will decide what, if any, further review is required."
Previous
research has already revealed that Prof Southall appeared as a witness
in cases of sudden infant death syndrome. Doctors engaged as prosecution
witnesses are obliged to reveal all their material - including an
index of any unused material - to defence lawyers.
Prof Southall
was found guilty of serious professional misconduct in 2004 after
he accused the solicitor Sally Clark's husband, Steve, of murdering
two of their sons on the basis of watching a TV programme.
In the current
GMC hearing, Prof Southall is accused of 18 charges of tampering
with medical records, keeping secret medical files and abusing his
position in relation to four children. He admits some of the charges,
but denies serious professional misconduct.
In a GMC
hearing last November, one mother said Prof Southall had accused
her of drugging and hanging her 10-year-old son and then reported
her to the police, despite having no evidence to indicate foul play.
The mother,
identified only as Mrs M, told a disciplinary panel that the doctor
had used a "very aggressive and sarcastic" tone when questioning
her about the death.
Her son,
known as M1, died after he fastened a belt around his neck and hung
it from a curtain pole in the family home in June 1996. An inquest
recorded an open verdict, saying there was no evidence to say for
certain whether the death had been intended suicide or an accident.
The GMC
also heard that another mother, identified only as Mrs H, spent
years trying to find information from her son's medical file after
it was moved from the Royal Brompton to the Staffordshire hospital
by Prof Southall. She accused the paediatrician of treating the
boy, Child H, like a "lab rat".
As a result
of the family's involvement with Prof Southall from March 1989,
Child H became a ward of court, the GMC heard.
Prof Southall
has attracted praise and controversy during his career. Many of
his peers say he has become the victim of a witch-hunt that is dissuading
other paediatricians from doing child protection work.
He pioneered
the use of covert video surveillance to detect cases of Munchausen's
syndrome by proxy, the condition where carers deliberately fabricate
or create illnesses in their children to receive medical attention.
He is one of the leading proponents of the diagnosis of the condition.
Some of
his videos revealed that children were being deliberately injured.
The hearing
has been adjourned until November.
Shamed
professor 'accused mother of hanging her son' 13th November 2006
