Professionals Against Child Abuse

PACA Press release – Failure of Medical Regulation – time for an inquiry into the integrity of the GMC after David Southall’s appeal win.

PACA is delighted that justice has been achieved in the case of David Southall, with the Court of Appeal today overturning the decision of the GMC’s Fitness to Practise (FtP) Panel in December 2007 to erase his name from the medical register.

The Appeal Court determined that the GMC Panel had been prejudiced by an inappropriate view that David Southall should not have undertaken an interview of a mother to investigate the death of her child. The three judges considered the Panel’s approach “was not one based on evidence”. PACA always considered the finding of the FtP Panel perverse and another example of the GMC’s harassment of leading child protection doctors. [...]

Download the full press release as PDF: Failure of Medical Regulation – time for an inquiry into the integrity of the GMC after David Southall’s appeal win

David Southall is now back on the register and licensed. Many people have been striving for this outcome for a long time, but it is not the time for any of us to rest on our laurels.

PACA will continue to support safeguarding professionals when this is needed, and endeavour to support the accurate portrayal of safeguarding issues in the press, and assist the GMC where we can.