Perfect English

I have observed my fellow mainstream bloggers with a great deal of amusement. Most of them have remained tight lipped when their fellow colleague and General Practitioner Jane Barton killed a number of people in Gosport. It is important to understand that Jane Barton is a British Doctor. She is one of the "fold". She is probably a member of Doctors.net.uk where they all wallow around and think in one straight line. It is quite shocking that Hospital Doctor has absolutely no recent coverage of the case. Mike Broad has written about Daniel Ubani. Gone are the days when Mike was at the forefront of the GMC's news. These days, he lives on stories fed to him by Remedy UK.

Then there is Dr Ubani. Ubani made a catastrophic mistake. It killed a man. Let's face it, it happens all the time with many British doctors. I knew one in North Staffordshire NHS Trust who killed a man with diamorphine. The patient was treated with Diamorphine 20 mg for simple constipation. The patient had severe COPD. The doctor in question was a Cambridge graduate. Of course, we all know his name and we all know how many senior doctors covered up for his mistakes in 1998. This is what happens with British doctors [ generally] unless they work outside the norm and are decent people. The fact remains though that the vast majority of mainstream clique bloggers are British English. They originate from the same fold that protects those who practise bad medicine. They regularly walk away when negligence happens. The only time they don't walk away is when someone like Ubani who apologises for his mistakes is repeatedly is kicked from here through Europe. It is then that the majority of the bloggers are awake. They are awake because the victim in that case is a caucasian doctors father.

It is of course very easy to whinge and moan about foreign doctors. Some of them are incompetent but then some of them are very good. Ubani simply ended up killing someone but the difference between him and Dr Jane Barton is that he has the decency to apologise for his mistake. What does he get for his mistake? He gets a gaggle of bloggers, dissing foreign doctors at every opportunity. Yes of course, foreign doctors can't possibly be as good as those who speak that crisp English with a BBC twang? Or can they? The General Medical Council has joined in this foreign doctor bashing and yes the discriminatory English tests for the Indian subcontinent and the lack of tests for Europeans was pointed out many years ago to them by many asian doctors. If anyone is to blame it is the General Medical Council.

Of course, this is all foreign doctor bashing in a manner of speaking. Ubani was one doctor who made a serious inexcusable error. This is a bit like judging all locums because one locum retired pathologist was negligent. Entire changes are being made regarding the issue of foreign doctors. No changes have been made in relation to Dr Barton. No one has been held accountable. So who is more negligent, Barton or Ubani ? I think we need to make these comparisons because of the way we perceive people. It is easier for people to think that a foreigner is a killer rather than a British Oxford Graduate.

Now watch these cheerleaders supporting their caucasian victim.

Ferret Fancier

"The coroner has ruled that a patient's death was unlawful after an incompetent German doctor who couldn't speak English properly gave him a fatal overdose of diamorphine"

That's alright Ferret, but lets talk about Jane Barton old boy?

You do a search on Jane Barton on Ferrets website and he appears not to have written about her. Ferret though probably thinks that Barton is another media spin story. It isn't of course because I have seen the evidence. This is why I can convincingly say Barton killed her patients in Gosport. He is quite happy to point point point at the lack of English but he fails to point point point at the high number of deaths in Gosport with a positive inquest finding.

Jobbing Doctor mentions it here.

There is a very minor mention of Jane Barton here. We then tried to look up Gosport on his blog and failed to find any mention of it.

Ubani though is mentioned a number of times in various guises.

We then move to the search facility on NHS Blog doctor and find that Jane Barton and Gosport are never mentioned. Why is this? Reluctance to believe that there may be a killer in the midst of the medical profession that these two GPs feel will disappear because it reminds them of the hauntings of Shipman? NHS Blog Doctor has lost his touch. He his has become too big for the bloggers door. His blog is currently filled with his contributions to the Guardian. He has now become a Guardianista. Crippo says little of importance these days. His tame material will no doubt be forgotten in the test of time. Crippo was one of the best anti establishment bloggers until his style was tamed. Shame really but then it depends who he mixes with these days. I have noticed, the more bloggers get with various mainstream publications, the tamer their writings. This has happened to Jobbing Doctor and Dr Crippen as the days have floated past.

Grumble takes the easy road and mentions neither. Gosport was never covered.

We then ask ourselves why all these Doctors.net.uk users fail to feature one of the leading stories in medicine? On the other side of the coin those who are radical non establishment bloggers have featured her, Doctorbloggs, Badmed and Witchdoctor.

This shows us there are two teams of bloggers floating around the internet. One set prepared to say a few things in public's interest and the other side preferring not to become involved.

The media of course have had a field day bashing up Ubani to a pulp. So you can't say sorry until you are bashed up for killing a doctor's father? You can be kicked to a pulp and then kicked again and even when the blood and tears starts pouring the audience wants a public hanging. And even when their is a hanging, they want to cut the remainder of his reputation into small pieces until it gets so much for him that he cannot tolerate it anymore. What is allowed apparently is the killing of those who are not doctor's fathers? All of a sudden, this doctor's father is far more important than the rest of the mere mortals who are killed everyday by the National Health Service. I believe the last figures showed 22,000 patients per year die of errors.

The numbers of patients in Gosport far outweigh Ubani's sins. Barton though is given the kid gloves treatment by the mainstream medical bloggers and by the newspapers. Well, there is a certain reluctance to see the downfall of Jane Barton. I believe it comes down to the fact that she is Ms Golden Girl and it isn't accepted in the minds of these bloggers that Ms Golden Girl could potentially be a killer. Whether the mainstream bloggers realise it or not, it is easier for them to think that Ubani is a killer rather than the prim suited Oxford graduate.

In summary, accidents happen in medicine. The National Health Service is filled with them. There is no research that suggests that foreign doctors are responsible for the majority of deaths or accidents. Dr Ubani was a one off - a doctor who made a mistake one day and paid a high price for it.

So I suspect Ubani bashing will continue. He is an easy target. He is impaired by his lack of understanding in English, he isn't as eloquent as Jane Barton and doesn't have the Medical Defence Union spending high amounts doctors membership money. Even with that lack of English competence Ubani was decent enough to apologise. This is more than can be said Ms Jane Barton who has never apologised for anything. I am about to publish the excellent letter written by Ubani. I admire him for writing such a letter because I know many English/British trained doctors who speak with the Queens English and have never had the decency to apologise for their wrong doing. Thankyou Dr Ubani for apologizing.

Perfect English makes all the difference. You can get away with killing your patients quite safely and your peers will never criticize you.

LETTER OF APOLOGY and FORGIVENESS

Dear Dr S Gray

Dear MS Linda Budd

It is with a very heavy heart that I write you this letter to express my deepest sympathy and remorse for the fatal mistake that I made and the circumstances that led to the untimely death of your beloved father and partner of Ms Linda Budd during my call visit on that fateful day, 16. Feb. 2008. Indeed I am still confounded and very sorry for what has happened and ask for FORGIVENNESS. I can still not believe this could be a result of my attempt to help a patient. I Sincerely apologise to you, to Ms Linda Budd and to all members of your family.

There is no amount of remorse, grief or explanation on my part that can satisfy or replace the life of your father and head of your family. The circumstances arose from the confusion between the drugs pethidine and diamorphine, which was administered in a very high dosage, a drug I have not been conversant with, which we do not normally use here in Germany in call duty. Secondly the [day] before my first shift, I under went a tremendous stress situation, flying in from Germany, taking a car hire to drive to Colchester to meet my Job Agency for instructions.

From there driving to Ipswich, River Side Clinic for couching, after which I still had to [make my way] to the New Market Base, arriving there around 4 am 16 Feb. These journeys on the High Way where very tortuos, taking into cosideration of the Left Hand Drive in the UK in contrast to Right Hand Drive in Germany and also not easily finding the directions with out Navigation System. I could only have just about 3hrs rest before I started my shift.

My nerves were over strectched, I was too tired and lacked concentration and these factors played a major roole in the mistake that occurred. I have my own Practise in Germany as a GP and a Surgeon sinc almost 22 years. In this time I have not had such fatal cases.

I have allowed some time between the incident and now to elapse in order not to rush your feelings during the immediate weeks of mourning. Please forgive me.