Trinity doctors escape action
Three doctors accused of blunders which led to the death of a healthy Wolverhampton baby will not face disciplinary action.
Three doctors accused of blunders which led to the death of a healthy Wolverhampton baby will not face disciplinary action.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has ruled there is insufficient evidence to prove professional misconduct against the trio in relation to tragic Trinity Spring Reynolds, who suffocated in her mother's womb following mistakes by staff at New Cross Hospital exactly four years ago today.
Consultant Jagbir Singh Samra, specialist woman registar Deepali Sinha and locum Khawam Yousif Sharma stood accused by Trinity's parents Tracie and Simon of neglect and incompetence.
All work in obstetrics and gynaecology, although Sharma is since believed to have left the country.
Two independent investigations blamed medics and serious training failures for the deaths of three healthy infants, including Trinity, within eight weeks in early 2003.
Tracie, aged 39, of Bushbury, said today the decision not to proceed by the GMC, which regulates doctors and aims to ensure good practice, had failed her family. They were originally told a 10-day public hearing would take place around November last year.
"Simon and I feel completely let down by the GMC, especially since it has been more than three years since the whole painful process started," she said.
"We feel the entire scenario has been an utter shambles and the investigation only ever caused us stress and anguish, but for Trinity's sake, it was worth more than three years of our lives."
In 2005 the GMC originally ruled there was a case to answer and ordered a formal fitness to practise hearing - the most serious level of action it can take.
But a new letter to the Reynolds from Andrea McCormack, an investigation officer with the GMC's fitness to practise directorate, states: "As you are are aware we instructed a barrister to give her opinion on whether we had enough evidence to establish, beyond reasonable doubt, that the fitness to practise of any of the three doctors was impaired. In light of the evidence she did not believe we had a realistic prospect of proving this."
By Stella Stokes