0:01:11 > 0:01:20I had hope they do it fast and openly. We ask why this has been
0:01:20 > 0:01:26allowed to happen. Is Great OrMonday -- Ormond Street simply
0:01:26 > 0:01:29too important to fail? Great Ormond Street is one of the
0:01:29 > 0:01:34most famous children's hospitals in the world. Its work captures the
0:01:34 > 0:01:38hearts and minds of the British public. We're running for a great
0:01:38 > 0:01:42charity. With a PR machine second to none, it's one of the most
0:01:42 > 0:01:46donated to children's charities in the UK. I have raised about �500.
0:01:47 > 0:01:54Hopefully the company I work for Microsoft are going to match that.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00Receiving �50 million last year alone. I raised a lot for Great
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Ormond Street. �200 so far. Under if the First and Always", the
0:02:04 > 0:02:09hospital has become an international brand. But behind the
0:02:09 > 0:02:12golden image and well-oiled funding machine there are concerns among
0:02:12 > 0:02:20medical professionals at the length the hospital will go to protect
0:02:20 > 0:02:26their precious reputation. There are certainly concerns around
0:02:26 > 0:02:32the country within paediatrics and Petiat Rick radiology that the
0:02:32 > 0:02:37system at Great Ormond street is not what it should be.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Christine Hall was a radiologist at the hospital for over 30 years
0:02:40 > 0:02:44before retiring. She was one of just a few specialists in the
0:02:44 > 0:02:47country highly trained to recognise the difference between child abuse
0:02:47 > 0:02:50cases and rare genetic bone conditions. When a decision was
0:02:50 > 0:02:57made not to appoint further experts in this field, staff felt these
0:02:57 > 0:03:05vital skills were being lost. There was another edict issued that
0:03:05 > 0:03:11everybody would do everything in the department. So dumbing down
0:03:11 > 0:03:16everybody's level of expertise, and if I may say so, at the same time
0:03:16 > 0:03:21compromising patient care. We can see the obvious fracture. It is
0:03:21 > 0:03:27quite a severe one. Yeah. It appears fresh. These concerns are
0:03:27 > 0:03:37shared by radiologist Karren Rosendahl. Since she left the
0:03:37 > 0:03:42
0:03:42 > 0:03:48hospital, she feels children are no longer receiving the high quality
0:03:48 > 0:03:53care they should have. When I first came to the hospital, there were
0:03:53 > 0:03:59three specialists. At present, there is none. So that's really
0:03:59 > 0:04:03concerning. One particular case misdiagnosed had the wrong sort of
0:04:03 > 0:04:07treatment, for example. Another case, misdiagnosed for abuse,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11wasn't abuse. Are you aware of cases that...
0:04:11 > 0:04:17yes. I think there have been mistakes, yes. Why do you say that?
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Because I am aware of patients that have suffered. The hospital say
0:04:21 > 0:04:25they take concerns raised by staff very seriously and have found no
0:04:25 > 0:04:29evidence of any risk to patients, certainly compromising patient
0:04:29 > 0:04:34safety, misdiagnosis and a lack of expertise are not things you
0:04:34 > 0:04:41associate with this world-class institution, but this isn't the
0:04:41 > 0:04:44first time Great Ormond Street Hospital have come in for criticism.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48The hospital has a great reputation as a foremost children's hospital,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51so one treads very carefully about beginning to think things may not
0:04:52 > 0:04:58be correct, but in the end you have to speak out for the children. You
0:04:58 > 0:05:01can't say, I mustn't damage the reputation. Great Ormond Street has
0:05:01 > 0:05:04just achieved foundation trust status that gives them greater
0:05:04 > 0:05:10independence allowing them to continue as a centre of excellence
0:05:10 > 0:05:13for children. It was the desire for this which first led them from the
0:05:13 > 0:05:22state-of-the-art hospital here in Bloomsbury to one of the most
0:05:22 > 0:05:28deprived communities in Britain. Haringey has one of the highest
0:05:28 > 0:05:38levels of child poverty in the country. After the death of
0:05:38 > 0:05:40
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Victoria Climbie this hospital has struggled to recruit doctors.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48It looked really exciting. The advert was basically saying we want
0:05:48 > 0:05:52people to come and develop high- quality paediatric services for the
0:05:52 > 0:05:55community in Haringey, and as I had had a lot of experience in
0:05:55 > 0:06:01developing new services, you know, I thought, great. This is the sort
0:06:01 > 0:06:05of job for me. Kim Holt was recruited by Great Ormond Street
0:06:05 > 0:06:12Hospital in 2004 under this new partnership with Haringey. She was
0:06:12 > 0:06:15part of a team of four consultant paediatricians including three
0:06:15 > 0:06:20others. The Great Ormond Street Hospital
0:06:20 > 0:06:25has a name internationally. It has the reputation of - for, you know,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29hosting some of the best doctors of the world. This was the job that
0:06:29 > 0:06:35came my way at the time, and seeing the label of Great Ormond Street
0:06:35 > 0:06:45attached to it, I jumped when I got the job. Much was riding on this
0:06:45 > 0:06:49
0:06:49 > 0:06:52partnership for great hor Monday My expectation was they'd be
0:06:52 > 0:07:01putting children first that their aim would be to really bring
0:07:01 > 0:07:05excellence into the community in Haringey. Great Ormond street,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08dealing with a wide range of issues in the community meant they were
0:07:08 > 0:07:12venturing into unchartered territory. It was a very different
0:07:12 > 0:07:15type of service from the work they were famous for. The work came as a
0:07:16 > 0:07:20surprise to some senior consultants at the hospital. Great Ormond
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Street is dedicated to looking after complex patients - children -
0:07:25 > 0:07:34and they're referred there on the basis of their complexity. Haringey
0:07:34 > 0:07:42is the local area that deals with general paediatrics which nobody at
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Great Ormond Street has experience of. Before long, serious cracks
0:07:47 > 0:07:50began to appear. When examining children, doctors couldn't access
0:07:50 > 0:07:54medical records. You would see the child and you wouldn't have the
0:07:54 > 0:07:58notes. Then obviously you have to trawl back through some of the
0:07:58 > 0:08:04history. We don't know whether this child was admitted a few years ago
0:08:04 > 0:08:07for broken bones or bruises, where he has been presented to A&E
0:08:07 > 0:08:17locally. We have no information whatsoever about that. It left the
0:08:17 > 0:08:17
0:08:17 > 0:08:21doctor who was doing the medicals All four consultants raised their
0:08:21 > 0:08:26concerns in a co--signed letter to management. There's no doubting
0:08:26 > 0:08:30when you read that letter that there were serious concerns about
0:08:30 > 0:08:40patient safety, but also about the culture. In my opinion that service
0:08:40 > 0:08:42
0:08:42 > 0:08:46wasn't fit for purpose. We had raised concerns about this disaster.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48When they felt management failed to respond to their concerns, staff
0:08:48 > 0:08:56resorted to filling in critical incident forms to report problems
0:08:56 > 0:09:00in the system. These are designed to pre-empt major accidents but
0:09:00 > 0:09:04managers felt too many were being filled in. You were almost told off
0:09:04 > 0:09:08like children, saying don't be so dramatic. We raised the concern and
0:09:08 > 0:09:12I was the most vocal and then I'm referred to occupational health,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17you know, allegedly with mental health problems. The timing
0:09:17 > 0:09:24suggests that they were actually targeting me. Just months after
0:09:24 > 0:09:28raising these concerns, the named doctor resigned. This pivotol
0:09:28 > 0:09:32position was a key recommendation introduced as a result of the
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Victoria Climbie inquiry. For a hospital like St Anne's the named
0:09:34 > 0:09:39doctor was a fundamental requirement. The Great Ormond
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Street Hospital management failed to fill the role. It's a crucial
0:09:44 > 0:09:48post for child protection and it shocked me that in Haringey after
0:09:48 > 0:09:54Victoria Climbie that they actually saw that it was appropriate to cut
0:09:54 > 0:09:58the named doctor post. It's just unbelievable. We lost that support
0:09:58 > 0:10:01from within the organisation of somewhere to go if you needed to
0:10:01 > 0:10:06speak to somebody to get some advice regarding whether you had
0:10:06 > 0:10:16concerns about a child being abused or not. In a statement Great Ormond
0:10:16 > 0:10:22
0:10:22 > 0:10:27Street Hospital told us: However the hospital accepts that it: With
0:10:27 > 0:10:32no named doctor and patient notes always missing this doctor felt he
0:10:32 > 0:10:35no alternative but to resign and return home to Newcastle. I thought
0:10:35 > 0:10:42I couldn't work in an environment like that. That's the reason why I
0:10:42 > 0:10:46left. By the end of 2006 this clinic was running on two very
0:10:46 > 0:10:55exhausted consultants and double the workload that we had had the
0:10:55 > 0:10:58year before. Kim Holt went off on extended leave embroiled in a
0:10:58 > 0:11:08battle with Great Ormond Street over a battle with workload and
0:11:08 > 0:11:12stress. Over the four, just one renaind Dr Banejee. -- remained.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17She was off with bouts of sickness, but Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat was brought
0:11:17 > 0:11:22in. It was an accident waiting to happen in that clnic. The brutal
0:11:22 > 0:11:27death of a toddler in north London has been described by ministers...
0:11:27 > 0:11:30A man and woman have been arrested and released on bail by police
0:11:30 > 0:11:34investigating the spish death of... The court had heard that the
0:11:34 > 0:11:38injuries inflicted which increased in intensity would fill any
0:11:39 > 0:11:43reasonable person with revulsion. I've decided to take immediate
0:11:43 > 0:11:49action. Haringey council will now remove the current director of
0:11:49 > 0:11:52children's services from her post with immediate effect. Sharon
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Shoesmith was sacked along with four others, but no-one from the
0:11:56 > 0:12:00management at the hospital was held to account. Children's services and
0:12:00 > 0:12:05Sharon Shoesmith carried the can. There's no doubt, but we certainly
0:12:05 > 0:12:10are now very clear that health had a very large responsibility. I
0:12:10 > 0:12:15think health got off relatively Scott free. But was this the whole
0:12:15 > 0:12:23story? From what people started telling me, this was more than just
0:12:23 > 0:12:26an overwhelming failure of social work. From leaked documents,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29talking to whistleblowers and freedom of information requests, it
0:12:29 > 0:12:31became clear that the hospital were hiding something and my reports
0:12:31 > 0:12:38were prompting others to ask questions about this famous
0:12:38 > 0:12:41hospital. Last year, the editor of thelancet questioned whether Great
0:12:41 > 0:12:47Ormond Street Hospital is just too porn to be seen to fail even when a
0:12:47 > 0:12:56child dies. This was followed a few months later by the Britsh Medical
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Journal, which asked: What has emerged is just how far the
0:13:00 > 0:13:06management were prepared to go to conceal the full picture about
0:13:06 > 0:13:11their involvement in the death of baby Peter. It all started when two
0:13:11 > 0:13:15eminent pedestrian tritions, professor Joseph and Dr Deborah
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Hoaves were commissioned to look at the practice of Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat
0:13:19 > 0:13:23and the clinic where she worked. What they were to find is toxic for
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Great Ormond Street Hospital. Potentially very damaging. The
0:13:27 > 0:13:29report, as it was, outlined not only the failings of Dr Sabah Al-
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Zayyat, but also serious concerns at the way this clinic was being
0:13:36 > 0:13:38run. But the official review into Peter's death never got the full
0:13:38 > 0:13:42picture, because Great Ormond Street Hospital chose to conceal
0:13:42 > 0:13:50some of the most damaging aspects of this report. The truth remained
0:13:50 > 0:13:54buried for two years. When I learned about this report, I tried
0:13:54 > 0:13:58to get hold of it through freedom of information requests. The
0:13:58 > 0:14:01hospital refused to release it. What are the public interest tests
0:14:01 > 0:14:05here? It was only after the Information Commissioner intervened
0:14:05 > 0:14:08that it was finally disclosed a year-and-a-half later. It was
0:14:08 > 0:14:14immediately clear why Great Ormond Street Hospital didn't want this
0:14:14 > 0:14:19made public. They had uncovered flaws in the whole system, concerns
0:14:19 > 0:14:23that the management had been warned about over a year before Peter's
0:14:23 > 0:14:28death. The report described St Anne's as clinically risky, saying
0:14:28 > 0:14:34there were grave concerns with missing notes, too few staff and
0:14:34 > 0:14:37crucially, no named doctor. The report recognised that Dr Sabah Al-
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Zayyat who examined baby Peter two days before he died was
0:14:41 > 0:14:44inexperienced in child protection. It said she should have been given
0:14:44 > 0:14:48more training, but she didn't meet the core requirements of the job.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54Great Ormond Street Hospital had known that when they employed her.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I had seen the job description for this locum and she could not said
0:14:57 > 0:15:01to be filling the requirement of that post. Should Great Ormond
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Street Hospital have appointed Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat? No. They write a
0:15:05 > 0:15:11job description that says you must have a certificate of completion of
0:15:11 > 0:15:16training as a consultant. She did not have that. You are putting the
0:15:16 > 0:15:26doctor in a position and the doctor isn't - is quite likely to fail.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Great Ormond Street Hospital say: We now know that in the months
0:15:31 > 0:15:36after baby Peter's death Great Ormond Street Hospital not only
0:15:36 > 0:15:42gave Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat a positive appraisal, they also offered her a
0:15:42 > 0:15:47permanent consultant's post here at St Anne's, but when the hospital
0:15:47 > 0:15:52received the report they cut their own employee loose. Tonight on BBC
0:15:53 > 0:15:55London - the last doctor to examine baby Peter will face a panel.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Great Ormond Street Hospital made public the short comings of Dr
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Sabah Al-Zayyat by sacking her and reporting her to the G MC, but
0:16:03 > 0:16:08minimised their own failings. was no way that Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat
0:16:08 > 0:16:13deserved the scapegoating and vicious media campaigning against
0:16:13 > 0:16:17her. The doctor got the blame, but the systems seemed to have got away
0:16:17 > 0:16:20with it. I would hope that a hospital like Great Ormond Street
0:16:20 > 0:16:25Hospital would be willing to look where there were serious failings
0:16:25 > 0:16:30to correct them. And wouldn't see themselves as being above that.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34they done that in this case? They hadn't done it in this case, no.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38You have to think that is a cover- up, but ultimately while the doctor
0:16:38 > 0:16:43was clearly failing, so was Great Ormond Street Hospital. If they
0:16:43 > 0:16:45knew all of those things were not at a level that provided safety and
0:16:45 > 0:16:50security around child protection, then they were at fault and the
0:16:50 > 0:16:54fact that didn't come through into the Serious Case Review, why not?
0:16:55 > 0:17:04Why are they keeping it secret? Those are questions that need to be
0:17:05 > 0:17:30
0:17:30 > 0:17:33answered. Great Ormond Street Tonight, a BBC London exclusive,
0:17:33 > 0:17:40the author of the Serious Case Review into the death of baby Peter
0:17:40 > 0:17:43says she wasn't given crucial facts. Throughout my investigations Great
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Ormond Street Hospital have maintained that they withheld key
0:17:46 > 0:17:51information in the Sibert report for legal reasons. We believe in
0:17:51 > 0:17:54being open. Always telling the truth and sharing everything we can.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56One of our problems is we have responsibilities to our employees
0:17:56 > 0:18:00as well. Great Ormond Street Hospital has always maintained that
0:18:00 > 0:18:04the findings of the Sibert report were passed on to the second or
0:18:04 > 0:18:08final review into Peter's death. But we can now reveal, after months
0:18:08 > 0:18:18of investigation, that the full failings of Great Ormond Street
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Hospital never made it into any official inquiry. Over a year after
0:18:21 > 0:18:26baby Peter's death the role of Great Ormond Street Hospital was
0:18:26 > 0:18:29re-examined. A second review was carried out by a company. We have
0:18:29 > 0:18:33now seen this confidential report and can revuel what it says for the
0:18:33 > 0:18:37very first time. -- reveal what it says for the very first time. It
0:18:37 > 0:18:40reports to be a full assessment, how the Health Services failed baby
0:18:40 > 0:18:45Peter. But the key failings of Great Ormond Street Hospital are
0:18:45 > 0:18:50simply not in it. Great Ormond Street Hospital say they did
0:18:50 > 0:18:54receive the full Sibert report. I showed both documents to Ray Jones,
0:18:54 > 0:19:04an expert in social care, to see whether they thought the findings
0:19:04 > 0:19:07
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Paediatrician Leonard Williams, who has a special interest in child
0:19:11 > 0:19:15protection agrees. You do not read this report and get the same
0:19:15 > 0:19:21impression as you do from the Sibert report. Because the Sibert
0:19:21 > 0:19:24report painted a picture of what? clinically risky situation. Great
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Ormond Street said Verita did receive the entire Sibert report
0:19:28 > 0:19:32and they had been open, providing all necessary information, but
0:19:32 > 0:19:36reading through Verita, it paints a different picture. Crucially, the
0:19:36 > 0:19:42report says there was a named doctor. When we know from Sibert
0:19:42 > 0:19:46that there wasn't. Verita was told staff investment in St Ann's Clinic
0:19:46 > 0:19:52had increased, when a year before, the number of consultants was cut
0:19:52 > 0:19:57from four to three as part of Budget cuts of �350,000. And on the
0:19:57 > 0:19:59key question of why Dr Sabah Al- Zayyat was appointed, the report
0:19:59 > 0:20:05says that Great Ormond Street failed to provide the documentation
0:20:05 > 0:20:10to explain that. If at any point in time there's
0:20:10 > 0:20:14been deliberately, if you like, editing and exclusion to make sure
0:20:14 > 0:20:18that that information doesn't transfer from one stage of the
0:20:18 > 0:20:21process to the other, then that's got to be cause for concern because
0:20:21 > 0:20:27at the end of the day you have disrupted and destroyed the purpose
0:20:27 > 0:20:30of the process. 18 Months after Peter's death, the
0:20:30 > 0:20:33country's health regulator took a look at how Great Ormond Street had
0:20:33 > 0:20:39responded to the tragedy. Even here, the hospital tried to exert
0:20:39 > 0:20:44pressure. In Plymouth, I met Heather Wood, a
0:20:44 > 0:20:49former senior investigator for the Care Quality Commission. I showed
0:20:49 > 0:20:51her correspondence we'd obtained through Freedom of Information
0:20:51 > 0:20:54requests between Great Ormond Street and the regulator. It was a
0:20:54 > 0:21:00missed opportunity perhaps to hold Great Ormond Street, well, to
0:21:00 > 0:21:04account, really, on the face of it. E-mails and letters reveal how the
0:21:04 > 0:21:07hospital pressurised the regulator not to publish its review
0:21:07 > 0:21:12containing the Sibert report. you surprised to learn that Great
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Ormond Street wanted this report not to be published? I think that's
0:21:16 > 0:21:21very unusual.? Another e-mail, they tried to get Sibert's criticism of
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Great Ormond Street removed altogether. Having looked at some
0:21:24 > 0:21:31of the correspondence that you have shown me, I am certainly aware that
0:21:31 > 0:21:37Great Ormond Street was uncomfortable with the publication
0:21:37 > 0:21:42of the Sibert report. It certainly leaves an impression of an
0:21:42 > 0:21:47organisation that doesn't want a light shone into particular corners.
0:21:47 > 0:21:53It doesn't give an impression of an open and transparent organisation
0:21:53 > 0:22:03that is looking to ensure that lessons are fully learned. Great
0:22:03 > 0:22:10
0:22:10 > 0:22:13You would assume the affect of Baby Peter's death would be to make
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Great Ormond Street rethink its commitment to child protection, and
0:22:18 > 0:22:21it has, but not in a way you would imagine. It's now withdrawn from
0:22:21 > 0:22:25its partnership with Haringey. Other people might be tempted to
0:22:25 > 0:22:28say we must improve what we're doing. It seemed to be the opt is
0:22:28 > 0:22:34it case here. They just wanted to withdraw from anything to do with
0:22:34 > 0:22:38child abuse. So why when Baby Peter died nearly
0:22:38 > 0:22:43five years ago now does this still matter? Well, it's important
0:22:43 > 0:22:47because by trying to hide this information, Great Ormond Street's
0:22:47 > 0:22:51failings in child protection appear not to have been properly addressed.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Since Baby Peter's death, child protection in Britain has undergone
0:22:56 > 0:22:59a radical change. Some say setting it back because the right lessons
0:22:59 > 0:23:03may not have been learned. The repercussions are still being felt
0:23:03 > 0:23:08at the hospital today. At Great Ormond Street, radiologists were
0:23:08 > 0:23:11relied upon to give their expert opinion on child abuse cases to
0:23:11 > 0:23:16doctors around the country. But in the last few years, a decision has
0:23:16 > 0:23:21been made to withdraw this service. I found this quite horrifying. It
0:23:21 > 0:23:26was an impossible situation to be in, and whoever had dreamt this up
0:23:26 > 0:23:35obviously had no idea what is involved. There was an impression,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39a feeling that the Chief Executive didn't want radiology to do non-
0:23:39 > 0:23:43accidental cases anymore. Child protection cases? Yes. Great Ormond
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Street say they took this action because: The hospital does not have
0:23:46 > 0:23:50an A&E, and therefore in the department's view, it was not an
0:23:50 > 0:23:52appropriate focus for the radiology department. But when radiologists
0:23:52 > 0:23:55in the department raised concerns that Great Ormond Street was
0:23:56 > 0:24:05failing to put the child first, they felt management weren't
0:24:06 > 0:24:09
0:24:09 > 0:24:15listening to them. There was a culture of fear, so if we raised
0:24:15 > 0:24:19our concern, we were just ignored. According to some staff at the
0:24:19 > 0:24:24hospital, there is a culture of fear and bullying within this
0:24:25 > 0:24:28famous institution. Four years ago, senior radiology Dr Cathy Owens
0:24:29 > 0:24:31found herself facing an accusation of fraud over claims for
0:24:31 > 0:24:36reimbursement of the congestion charge. She was made to pay back
0:24:36 > 0:24:39the money. In 2008, Chief Executive of the hospital Jane Collins sent a
0:24:39 > 0:24:44letter to staff stating that she now considered the matter closed,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48but rather than being the end, this proved to be just the beginning for
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Dr Owens. Every person I know who has looked at any of the facts
0:24:54 > 0:24:59would say what's happened is wrong. They need to put it right.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04Supporters of Dr Owens say she has been the victim of a smear campaign.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08This has made her life miserable for the last few years. I think
0:25:08 > 0:25:14this is pure victimisation of Dr Cathy Owens. My view is that
0:25:14 > 0:25:19they're trying to persuade by one means or another Cathy Owens to
0:25:19 > 0:25:27resign. It's a very serious claim to make against a hospital. It is,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30yes. In 2010, Dr Owens lodged a grievance about her treatment at
0:25:30 > 0:25:35the hospital. A few weeks later, a complaint was made against her to
0:25:35 > 0:25:38the General Medical Council. As soon as the hospital knew there
0:25:38 > 0:25:41had been a referral of Dr Sabah Al- Zayyat, the hospital should have
0:25:41 > 0:25:46intervened and said this is a dead issue. Whatever the rights and
0:25:46 > 0:25:50wrongs may have been just over - just under two years ago, it's not
0:25:50 > 0:25:54matter to bring up now. It clearly doesn't affect a doctor's fitness
0:25:54 > 0:25:56to practising. It has been disposed of. They didn't. But now we have
0:25:56 > 0:26:02learnt the General Medical Council has dropped the case against Dr
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Owens, saying there was no prospect of proving dishonesty. Peter
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Bottomly says the hospital needs to admit they have made a mistake.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14hospital has to act, and if they don't, they will join the group of
0:26:14 > 0:26:17hospital Trusts who in my view the Secretary of State and the Select
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Committee need to investigate if this issue of having good doctors
0:26:21 > 0:26:26referred to the GMC and the Trust either initiating it or going along
0:26:26 > 0:26:31with it continues. This is one of the worst cases I have come across.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36Great Ormond Street say they tried to resolve the matter informally to
0:26:36 > 0:26:39avoid disruption in the radiology department. They go on to say:
0:26:39 > 0:26:42"With the benefit of hindsight, informal resolution may have been a
0:26:42 > 0:26:45mistake, and a formal disciplinary hearing may have been more
0:26:45 > 0:26:48appropriate. We were duty bound to ensure that the General Medical
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Council received a clear, transparent and accurate account of
0:26:52 > 0:26:58all the key evidence." But Dr Cathy Owens isn't unique. We have learnt
0:26:58 > 0:27:01of the case of another doctor, Hillary Cass, the former Medical
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Director of the hospital. Colleagues say she was hounded out
0:27:05 > 0:27:10by management after raising safety concerns relating to junior doctors.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Both draw parallels with the case of whistle-blower Kim Holt, who
0:27:13 > 0:27:19raised concerns at St Ann's Clinic. Great Ormond Street decided not to
0:27:19 > 0:27:22comment on Hillary Cass's case, but told us she continues to develop
0:27:22 > 0:27:25specialist practising at the hospital. Great Ormond Street is
0:27:25 > 0:27:28gaysing an emergency. I think the chairman should ask the Chief
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Executive to produce a list of the consultants who have been
0:27:32 > 0:27:36disciplined, the ones who left in a compromised agreement, the
0:27:36 > 0:27:39outstanding case they have got, look at that schedule and say, is
0:27:39 > 0:27:45there a pattern? Great Ormond Street now has the foundation trust
0:27:45 > 0:27:48status it so wanted. It's got it despite these failings in child
0:27:48 > 0:27:51protection and concerns about patient safety. Some think it's a
0:27:51 > 0:27:54mistake to have given it this independence from Government. So
0:27:54 > 0:27:58what next for this famous institution?
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Great Ormond Street has just become a foundation trust. That means it's
0:28:03 > 0:28:06trusted to run its own affairs. This is an affair it needs to run
0:28:06 > 0:28:11properly, and up until now they haven't shown they have done that.
0:28:11 > 0:28:18They have done the opposite. They're in the process of losing
0:28:18 > 0:28:22competent, well qualified, well- trained consultants because of this
0:28:22 > 0:28:29whole attitude within the hospital. I'm extremely disappointed. I'm