The BMA is supporting an appeal to the Supreme Court in a case against the GMC over its duty of care to doctors, after a doctor took his own life following a referral to the regulator.
Consultant anaesthetist Dr Sridharan Suresh died by suicide in May 2018 hours after receiving communication from the GMC notifying him of his referral to the regulator.
Dr Suresh, from County Durham, had been earlier interviewed by police following an allegation of sexual assault on a teenage girl while she was sedated. The police investigation was dropped after a lack of evidence.
An inquest was later told that the drugs (midazolam and fentanyl) used to sedate the patient were ‘well known’ to produce hallucinations and that the description of the alleged assailant did not match Dr Suresh ‘at all’.
Though his employer reassured Dr Suresh that they would not refer him to the GMC, the police made a third-party referral. They informed the hospital trust, but neither party informed Dr Suresh, with both assuming the other would do so.
On 2 May – two weeks after the trust had been made aware a GMC referral had been made – the email confirming it had opened an investigation into his fitness to practise, and that an Interim Orders Tribunal hearing1 had been arranged, landed in Dr Suresh’s email inbox. Hours later he took his own life.
Dr Suresh’s widow launched legal action against the GMC, arguing that the GMC should have taken reasonable steps to reduce the foreseeable risk of psychiatric harm. The BMA has supported this case throughout.
Central to the case is whether the GMC has a duty of care to the doctors it regulates, something that the Court of Appeal ruled last month it does not.
The BMA will now continue its support of Dr Suresh’s widow as she seeks permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
BMA council deputy chair Dr Emma Runswick said:
“Being referred to the GMC is something that every doctor dreads and can have a devastating impact on their career and life – even when there is no case to answer.
“Suicide is complex and multifactorial; Dr Suresh’s case is a tragic illustration of the burden of GMC intervention, showing what can happen when the GMC fails to provide adequate care and support to those it regulates. The NHS has lost a doctor of good standing, and a family has needlessly lost a loved one.
“The GMC rightly expects doctors to have a duty of care to their patients, but it too needs to uphold its side of the bargain. The GMC’s duty of care to doctors is what this case centres on, and why we are taking it to the Supreme Court.
“The BMA is proud to defend our members in standing up to an aggressive and adversarial regulator, and we will continue campaigning for reforms to the GMC that balance the need to both safeguard patients and command the confidence of the medical profession.”
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Notes to editors
The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.
- Interim Orders Tribunals decide if a doctor's practice should be restricted while an investigation takes place. The GMC can refer a case to an Interim Orders Tribunal while it investigates a complaint about a doctor. It does this if it believes a doctor's practice should be restricted to protect members of the public.