Medical workers’ fitness to practise to be reviewed

Questions are being asked over how a surgeon, sacked by a Kent hospital trust in 2007, has been able to avoid facing both an inquest into the death of one of his patients and a General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel.

David Jackson was a surgeon for East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust. He is facing 75 GMC charges, involving 16 patients between 1989 and 2007. The charges include botched reconstructive surgery for cancer, the wrong lump of breast tissue removed and a woman’s abdomen punctured during a hernia repair.

He is also accused of poor note taking, failing to get patient consent, not reading test results correctly and failing to take urgent action when there was a possibility of cancer.

One of his patients, Jill Phillips, aged 68, of Kent, first went to see him in 2004 with suspected bowel cancer. A multi-disciplinary team said that she should have an antero-resection but Mr Jackson performed a completely different operation. In 2006 she was readmitted to hospital but by this time she had a 10cm cancerous tumour. Mrs Phillips underwent the surgery first ordered but there were complications afterwards and she died on the operating table.

‘We gasped as one’

Her family have spoken to Channel 4 News about their long battle to prove that something went terribly wrong with their mother’s treatment. At an inquest in March the coroner said that there was “no evidence available to explain the change in procedure, but the planned operation would, on the balance of probabilities, have given a 60 per cent prospect of survival and cure.”

Kate Keane, one of Mrs Phillips’ eight children, said that they sat in the inquest they all “and gasped as one”.

She added: “What we didn’t expect was the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem would be present and, based on the evidence of three independent expert reports that looked into Mum’s case, apologise and change the cause of death on her death certificate.”

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust said in a statement: “The Trust first became aware of concerns in 2002 and as a result reduced Mr Jackson’s patient lists, lessened his on call responsibility and provided extra administrative support.”

However, that was well before Mrs Phillips came into contact with the surgeon. So what happened on the night Mrs Phillips died at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate?

Delays

There were delays in getting her to the operating theatre, they believe because Mr Jackson could not be contacted. They have also learned that he was in the surgery at some point but he did not come to speak to them afterwards. There are a number of questions they want answered by Mr Jackson, but he failed to turn up for the inquest and the East Kent coroner Rebecca Cobb has now reported him the GMC.

We are reviewing our fitness to practise work to try to speed it up Niall Dickson, GMC Chief Executive

Nor did Mr Jackson appear before the GMC panel. His lawyer said that his client was unwell. He applied for voluntary erasure from the medical register and he asked for the hearing to be in private because to have it in public, he said, could have an adverse effect on his health.

When that was refused, he immediately sought a judicial review at the High Court. To the frustration of the Phillips family, that took 18 months. On Christmas Eve they were told that the court had told the GMC that it was up to them to decide. A date for the hearing has still not been set.

Sarah Harman is the lawyer representing some of Mr Jackson’s former patients. She said: “They wanted answers to the queries they had, they wanted compensation for their claims. And yet Mr Jackson was totally elusive. He wouldn’t respond. It was his responsibility as the surgeon in charge of these difficult cases to actually deal with the aftermath.”

What is more, the first complaint about Mr Jackson was made to the GMC in 2005 – a year before Mrs Phillips died. A fitness to practice panel was convened in 2007 but the case was not heard.

Mr Jackson was totally elusive. He wouldn’t respond. It was his responsibility as the surgeon in charge of these difficult cases to actually deal with the aftermath. Sarah Harman, lawyer

Face-to-face

There are no questions being asked about the delays. Channel 4 News asked the GMC if the system was set up in favour of the doctor or the patients. Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: “In this case, there have been significant delays, which are frustrating for patients and everyone involved. A number of hearings had been scheduled but did not take place at the doctor’s request.

“We are reviewing our fitness to practise work to try to speed it up. Later this year, we will begin face-to-face meetings with those who are complaining about doctors.”

Channel 4 News attempted to contact Mr Jackson several times but he and his legal representatives, the Medical Defence Union, refused to answer any of our questions.

Mrs Phillips’ family said that while the Trust has apologised to them and they have been able to get the inquest held, the GMC hearing remains a source of frustration. Mr Jackson’s accountability, they say, is the final piece they need in this jigsaw.