Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba wins appeal against being struck off over boy's death

A junior doctor has won her appeal against a ruling that she be struck off the medical register over a boy's death.

Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba had been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in 2015 following the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock from sepsis while in her care at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal (MPT) decided she should be allowed to return to train and practise as a doctor after a year's suspension.

But the General Medical Council (GMC) successfully appealed against the decision and it was ruled Dr Bawa-Garba should be struck off the medical register.

Now the Court of Appeal has unanimously allowed her challenge and said her name should be restored to the medical register.

The news was welcomed by doctors who argue that Dr Bawa-Garba had been used as a scapegoat for systemic failure. But Jack's mother has called the decision "disgusting".

The Doctors' Association, which has campaigned for Dr Bawa-Garba, said her case was a "lightning rod" for a profession "at breaking point" and called the GMC's efforts to have her struck off a "serious error of judgement".

It said Dr Bawa-Garba had just returned from maternity leave and was doing several jobs at once when Jack Adcock died, covering six wards without a consultant or functioning IT system, and responding to several emergencies.

She had a clean record of practice and was in the top third of her specialist trainee cohort.

The association has launched a "learn not blame" campaign, with widespread support among doctors fearful of honest mistakes made in challenging conditions being routinely punished with criminal convictions.

Jack's mother Nicky Adcock said the verdict was an "absolute disgrace" that set "a precedent for doctors to do exactly what they like," pledging to fight the decision to the Supreme Court.

"All they're concerned about is the doctors in the profession," she said. "It seems people seem to be quite scared of the doctors, they seem to think they're untouchable."

Dr Cicely Cunningham, from the Doctors' Association Learn Not Blame campaign, said: "Pursuing an honest doctor with a previously unblemished record through the courts for errors made in the context of system failures does nothing to improve patient safety.

"The GMC needs to shift its focus away from individual blame and instead truly prioritise the safety and well-being of those who use the NHS."

Dr Bawa-Garba told Sky News she was "very pleased" with the outcome and hopeful that she would practise again, but wanted "to pay tribute and remember Jack Adcock, a wonderful little boy".

Delivering the ruling, Sir Terence Etherton stressed Dr Bawa-Garba's case had been "unusual" and that the tribunal was satisfied had deficient actions were neither deliberate or reckless, and did not present a continuing risk to patients.