Well, both my friends are facing their maker this week at the General Medical Council. I feel for them. I told one of them the other day that I just didn't have the guts to face a hearing at the GMC which is why I fought like hell and litigated against the GMC. I haven't faced as much as they have. I litigated to protect myself and to protect my livelihood at the time. People get criticised for litigating - I do it as a means of self preservation. A time comes when you have no other alternative left.
My material only touched the surface of the complaints procedure before I showed my teeth and decided to go into gobbling mode. I hate going into gobbling mode because I am such a placid kind of person. To beat the GMC, you have to turn yourself into some kind of hard hearted fighting machine.
Being at the GMC often reminds me of a really crappy movie called Open Water. I recall watching it through one of my clashes with them. The movie is about two divers left in the middle of the ocean. They do everything to survive and finally they give up - one is gobbled up by a shark and the other commits suicide.
I recall being consumed with anger at the unfairness of the GMC. I was eating my maltesers at the Vue Cinemas thinking that I really didn't want to be eaten by a shark and I didn't want to kill myself. The two alternatives were messy - and hell, no one wants to be found by an Ambulance crew with BHS pants.
It wasn't just the unfairness of it all but the fact that I had to read large numbers of seriously boring documents and case law because my legal advisors were so damned lazy. I have even drafted pre-action protocols for them. Imagine drafting papers for lawyers. I used to sit in the garden wondering what the f** I had done in my past life to be punished by being buried alive in this mountain of legal paperwork.
So not only are the GMC idiotic and mad, their lawyers are completely stark raving bonkers. After that, your own lawyers end up being lazy gits. Part of the battle is really about aiming your lawyers ready to fire at the GMC. Motivating lawyers into fighting the GMC is difficult. Firstly, none of them understand the impact of a GMC investigation on employment, and secondly no one reads. Without reading, most will guffaw away pointlessly. As a scientist you look at them all and think " What the f*** is going on?". One aspect of your character that has to change is this - you have to learn to swear because by doing that you understand what a bunch of useless and pointless gits the GMC and all defence lawyers are.
My old dad used to have a saying that went something like this " Self Help is the best help". And its true cause if you want to get anything done in this world, you can't rely on anyone else. Certainly, if you are fighting the GMC, if you want to get yourself out of the sh***, you have to do it yourself. Either that, or you get eaten up or commit suicide. Defending yourself against the GMC is difficult. It is the hardest, most pointless thing I have ever done. Even when you know the rules, the case law etc, the GMC will always bend the rules to do what they want. You look at them and say " Hey, the case law says this". They turn around and essentially tell you they don't give a damn what the case law says.
So, I am often asked how I beat the GMC in 2004. It was done out of sheer anger and I often find that when I reach that status, I can work and research for more hours than the lawyers can stay awake for. It is all well and good talking about "measured approaches". Well, having been measured, calm and polite, the only thing that sometimes works is being forthright.
I just think it is impossible to be measured when the GMC push you against the wall and try and pin you to it. While they are stapling you to the wall, the entire world blames you for it - not them.
I think both my friends are brave. I don't know how they do it - live every day and try and concentrate on everything that involves human functioning - drinking water, eating and keeping sane. My first friend Dr A told me this afternoon that he had resigned himself to his fate. That he now didn't care what the GMC did to him. He didn't care about medicine and that he was going to take the rest of the week off to rest, eat, watch TV and be cool. He is going to leave things to fate and his Queens Counsel. That is one way of dealing with things. Not giving a damn probably helps us all cope mentally. I remember Dr A when we worked together and I was fighting the GMC. I had to keep my angst away from him in 2003. Indeed, I could never tell anyone about what was happening to me. I conducted my business with the GMC in complete silence. At work, no one noticed that I was exhausted by the inordinate amount of work I had to do - printing papers, reading papers, posting files, instructing solicitors. All this was time consuming. The worst thing about it was to do this alone.
By comparison Dr B, is representing himself, working day and night with his correspondence and challenging the GMC Legal Team. Dr B has told them that they have no patient concerns and that his Trust are simply fuelling the fire. Dr B's issues were regarding consultants who were not happy with his abrupt tone so went and cried to the GMC. These consultants continuously throw their toys out of the pram and cry to the GMC. When I looked at their correspondence, they didn't even know the sections of Good Medical Practise. I was amazed that these people were made consultants. Then the reason our profession is in a mess is because consultants these days think they know it all - when they know jacks***.
Dr B has told the General Medical Council that he wishes to challenge the Registrars illegal decision in a Court of Law. He has requested that the GMC stay his Interim Order Panel until the pre-action discussions are complete. Pre-actions are compulsory. The GMC have refused to halt the Interim Order Panel despite case law stating that they should halt matters until the issue under dispute his resolved. Then the GMC never stops its procedures and quote a sloppy case called Mahfouz.
So that's the GMC for you, no one can stop them mid procedure even though their decision may be grossly illegal and irrational. You have to get struck off, have a sanction on your head, lose your job etc before attempting to challenge them and by then your name is in the dust.
This is the utter madness of the GMC. I don't know how my friends will cope. I fear for both of them in different ways. I always remember the SpR in General Medicine Joel Branch. He was given a rough ride by the General Medical Council and arch oddball Peter Lynn. Peter is arrogant, he works for the GMC, he has private insurance paid for by doctors. This makes his life comfortable so he can victimise juniors. The GMC solicitor involved here was Toni Smerdon. Smerdon doesn't have any ethics. She knows it as well and doesn't care. Both managed to hound Joel until the end of time. In the end, Joel became a fugitive from England due to some contempt of court issue. He is probably lost in their Interim Order Panel somewhere. There were no patient concerns about Joel. Joel was a competent rational Medical SpR - a talented doctor who nearly became a consultant. I have no idea where Joel is now. I still look at his emails with great sadness because despite all his efforts, his intellect etc, he was unable to defeat the GMC. Joel disappeared and I wish this had never happened to him. No one asks about Joel Branch. No one knows he has gone missing courtesy of the GMC actions. There is a brief House of Lords application with his name but that about it. He is probably one of many who have simply disappeared without a trace.
I don't understand why my friends have been subjected to these draconian measures. They aren't rebellious like me, they have always tried to do the right thing. Life isn't perfect and they may have tripped up a bit - but it is devastating for me to see one doctor going down one by one. The worst thing about this is I can't do much to assist them. Lawyers don't care, journalists don't care - who cares about doctors? We are deemed to be Dr Shipmans until proven otherwise. Yet, the majority of us just try and work hard, support our families and do the best for our patients. In the end, no one gives a sh*** even if a doctor jumps of a cliff. At that point, the establishment will say " Ah but he was always a bit unstable and unsuitable for medicine".
This post Shipman era is so unfair. There is no justice for doctors anymore.
My material only touched the surface of the complaints procedure before I showed my teeth and decided to go into gobbling mode. I hate going into gobbling mode because I am such a placid kind of person. To beat the GMC, you have to turn yourself into some kind of hard hearted fighting machine.
Being at the GMC often reminds me of a really crappy movie called Open Water. I recall watching it through one of my clashes with them. The movie is about two divers left in the middle of the ocean. They do everything to survive and finally they give up - one is gobbled up by a shark and the other commits suicide.
I recall being consumed with anger at the unfairness of the GMC. I was eating my maltesers at the Vue Cinemas thinking that I really didn't want to be eaten by a shark and I didn't want to kill myself. The two alternatives were messy - and hell, no one wants to be found by an Ambulance crew with BHS pants.
It wasn't just the unfairness of it all but the fact that I had to read large numbers of seriously boring documents and case law because my legal advisors were so damned lazy. I have even drafted pre-action protocols for them. Imagine drafting papers for lawyers. I used to sit in the garden wondering what the f** I had done in my past life to be punished by being buried alive in this mountain of legal paperwork.
So not only are the GMC idiotic and mad, their lawyers are completely stark raving bonkers. After that, your own lawyers end up being lazy gits. Part of the battle is really about aiming your lawyers ready to fire at the GMC. Motivating lawyers into fighting the GMC is difficult. Firstly, none of them understand the impact of a GMC investigation on employment, and secondly no one reads. Without reading, most will guffaw away pointlessly. As a scientist you look at them all and think " What the f*** is going on?". One aspect of your character that has to change is this - you have to learn to swear because by doing that you understand what a bunch of useless and pointless gits the GMC and all defence lawyers are.
My old dad used to have a saying that went something like this " Self Help is the best help". And its true cause if you want to get anything done in this world, you can't rely on anyone else. Certainly, if you are fighting the GMC, if you want to get yourself out of the sh***, you have to do it yourself. Either that, or you get eaten up or commit suicide. Defending yourself against the GMC is difficult. It is the hardest, most pointless thing I have ever done. Even when you know the rules, the case law etc, the GMC will always bend the rules to do what they want. You look at them and say " Hey, the case law says this". They turn around and essentially tell you they don't give a damn what the case law says.
So, I am often asked how I beat the GMC in 2004. It was done out of sheer anger and I often find that when I reach that status, I can work and research for more hours than the lawyers can stay awake for. It is all well and good talking about "measured approaches". Well, having been measured, calm and polite, the only thing that sometimes works is being forthright.
I just think it is impossible to be measured when the GMC push you against the wall and try and pin you to it. While they are stapling you to the wall, the entire world blames you for it - not them.
At that point, you fight to survive. A hearing was not an option for me. I cannot imagine any of the poncy gits at the panel understanding Dr Rita Pal, who I am, what I am, what I believe in . Would they accept the fact that I think they are all tossers. There is a reason for using language like that - it makes you feel considerably better. It is colloquial language, the language of the street and when you are fighting guttersnipes with no ethics or morals, you have to use the same lowly words.
I think both my friends are brave. I don't know how they do it - live every day and try and concentrate on everything that involves human functioning - drinking water, eating and keeping sane. My first friend Dr A told me this afternoon that he had resigned himself to his fate. That he now didn't care what the GMC did to him. He didn't care about medicine and that he was going to take the rest of the week off to rest, eat, watch TV and be cool. He is going to leave things to fate and his Queens Counsel. That is one way of dealing with things. Not giving a damn probably helps us all cope mentally. I remember Dr A when we worked together and I was fighting the GMC. I had to keep my angst away from him in 2003. Indeed, I could never tell anyone about what was happening to me. I conducted my business with the GMC in complete silence. At work, no one noticed that I was exhausted by the inordinate amount of work I had to do - printing papers, reading papers, posting files, instructing solicitors. All this was time consuming. The worst thing about it was to do this alone.
By comparison Dr B, is representing himself, working day and night with his correspondence and challenging the GMC Legal Team. Dr B has told them that they have no patient concerns and that his Trust are simply fuelling the fire. Dr B's issues were regarding consultants who were not happy with his abrupt tone so went and cried to the GMC. These consultants continuously throw their toys out of the pram and cry to the GMC. When I looked at their correspondence, they didn't even know the sections of Good Medical Practise. I was amazed that these people were made consultants. Then the reason our profession is in a mess is because consultants these days think they know it all - when they know jacks***.
Dr B has told the General Medical Council that he wishes to challenge the Registrars illegal decision in a Court of Law. He has requested that the GMC stay his Interim Order Panel until the pre-action discussions are complete. Pre-actions are compulsory. The GMC have refused to halt the Interim Order Panel despite case law stating that they should halt matters until the issue under dispute his resolved. Then the GMC never stops its procedures and quote a sloppy case called Mahfouz.
So that's the GMC for you, no one can stop them mid procedure even though their decision may be grossly illegal and irrational. You have to get struck off, have a sanction on your head, lose your job etc before attempting to challenge them and by then your name is in the dust.
This is the utter madness of the GMC. I don't know how my friends will cope. I fear for both of them in different ways. I always remember the SpR in General Medicine Joel Branch. He was given a rough ride by the General Medical Council and arch oddball Peter Lynn. Peter is arrogant, he works for the GMC, he has private insurance paid for by doctors. This makes his life comfortable so he can victimise juniors. The GMC solicitor involved here was Toni Smerdon. Smerdon doesn't have any ethics. She knows it as well and doesn't care. Both managed to hound Joel until the end of time. In the end, Joel became a fugitive from England due to some contempt of court issue. He is probably lost in their Interim Order Panel somewhere. There were no patient concerns about Joel. Joel was a competent rational Medical SpR - a talented doctor who nearly became a consultant. I have no idea where Joel is now. I still look at his emails with great sadness because despite all his efforts, his intellect etc, he was unable to defeat the GMC. Joel disappeared and I wish this had never happened to him. No one asks about Joel Branch. No one knows he has gone missing courtesy of the GMC actions. There is a brief House of Lords application with his name but that about it. He is probably one of many who have simply disappeared without a trace.
I don't understand why my friends have been subjected to these draconian measures. They aren't rebellious like me, they have always tried to do the right thing. Life isn't perfect and they may have tripped up a bit - but it is devastating for me to see one doctor going down one by one. The worst thing about this is I can't do much to assist them. Lawyers don't care, journalists don't care - who cares about doctors? We are deemed to be Dr Shipmans until proven otherwise. Yet, the majority of us just try and work hard, support our families and do the best for our patients. In the end, no one gives a sh*** even if a doctor jumps of a cliff. At that point, the establishment will say " Ah but he was always a bit unstable and unsuitable for medicine".
This post Shipman era is so unfair. There is no justice for doctors anymore.
2 comments:
so true - Good doctors are being destroyed. No doubt because it is politically inconvenient to have people who believe in a "a higher purpose" as opposed to "a common purpose"
If doctors consider that the care they provide patients is more important than government targets they are a danger to the system and need to be eradicated
It is all about providing the lawyers and the GMC staff with a comfortable source of income and the illusion of having some sort of importance and meaning in their lives.
I managed to understand by now that it is still possible in Europe to destroy innocent people s life just like that whithout ever being challenged. What I cannot yet understand is, how they all are able to go home in the evening and tell their children what is right oand wrong.
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