There is a determined campaign to deny the reality of child abuse
Letter to The Guardian newspaper -Wednesday December 5, 2007
We are extremely concerned at the direction taken by child protection in this country. This concern is made more acute following yesterday’s decision at the GMC to strike David Southall’s name from the medical register. There is a determined campaign to deny the existence and reality of child abuse in all its forms, led by a small group, aided and abetted by some journalists and politicians. This group targets prominent professionals in the field, especially paediatricians. Unable to respond publicly, there is no counterbalancing voice for the cause of abused children, so the media presents a completely one-sided picture.
In recent years, numerous competent, sincere and committed paediatricians have suffered at the hands of this lobby, both from complaints to employing bodies, but more seriously to the General Medical Council. The GMC overreacted in the case of Roy Meadow, where their decision to erase him from the medical register was reversed on appeal. We have also denounced the GMC’s 2004 decision about David Southall (“GMC Fails Child Protection”, Pediatrics 2007).
The recent decision in David Southall’s case (Controversial paediatrician reprimanded again, November 28) further shows their lack of understanding of child protection practice. The GMC has failed to understand the dilemmas faced by paediatricians when the circumstances around a child’s death raise concerns of child abuse and the emotional conflict it generates when this diagnosis needs to be discussed with bereaved parents, devastated by the loss of their child.
The GMC’s recent finding discounted the testimony of David Southall and the accompanying senior social worker. This means that no doctor can rely on an independent professional witness who testifies that they acted appropriately and professionally in a consultation. Given the sensitivity around discussing possible life-threatening abuse, paediatricians appear to have no defence against complaints from aggrieved parents who may have abused their children. This will mean many more paediatricians will avoid engagement in this work. The decision is thus not only a major injustice to Professor Southall, but also to vulnerable children.
The GMC ignores the law: “The well-being of innumerable children up and down the land depends crucially on doctors and social workers concerned with their safety being subjected by the law to but a single duty: that of safeguarding the child’s own welfare.” Paediatricians and social workers in this field must be supported rather than vilified in their efforts to protect children. The GMC decision inhibits doctors from acting within a multi-agency team to protect children.
John Bridson, Nigel Speight, Margaret Crawford, Malcolm Coulthard, Loretta Davis-Reynolds, Charles Essex, Frank Hind, Sherin Jackson, Nadeem Moghal, Peter Morrell, Umesh Prabhu, Tabitha Randell and 26 others
Professionals Against Child Abuse
