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U. K. Community Issues
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ROBBIE'S
PAGE |
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| NB:
All the documents in support of the evidence in this summary
are available on request! |
| Summary
of the case of :Robert
Darren Powell [Robbie] |
|
proves clearly the failure within the NHS, the police
and the Government and the failure by the majority of
politicians to address these important issues which can
affect us all. |
| The
documentary programme about
Robbie's case was shown on ITV Wales -
Wales This Week - the initial documentary
was first shown in 2004 the
second in 2007and on the
7 January 2008; featured in Part 2 - read direct from
ITV Wales - Wales This Week -The link
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| Robbie
Powell died at the age of ten on the 17 th April 1990 of a treatable
condition called Addison's disease which, unknown to
his parents, had been suspected four months before his death,
when he had been an inpatient at Morriston Hospital , Swansea
. The test to confirm the diagnosis was ordered by the hospital
consultant but not performed. Addison's disease invariably results
in death without treatment; however, if treated the patient
can live a full and normal life. The hospital informed Robbie's
GPs of the suspicion Addison's disease and requested immediate
referral if Robert had a recurrence of, amongst other things,
vomiting and/or abdominal pain. Between the 2 nd and 17 th April
Robert was seen by five GPs from the Ystradgynlais Health Centre
on seven separate occasions [i.e. 2, 6, 11, 15, 16 and twice
on the 17]. In the 2 weeks leading to Robert's death he had
been vomiting [a characteristic symptom of Addison's disease
which had led to his initial hospital admission], was so weak
he couldn't walk unassisted, had excessive weight loss, dilated
pupils and central cyanosis when he regained consciousness after
fainting on the day he died. In the light of these symptoms
and the several earlier consultations the GP refused hospital
admission on her first visit of 17 th April 1990 . On her second
visit the GP again refused hospital admission but eventually
agreed following a heated argument. However, the Powells' request
for an ambulance was refused. On arrival at the hospital, Mr
Powell watched his youngest son take his last conscious breath.
Robert was declared dead shortly after. |
| The
Powells were refused an inquest and the coroner did not have
any preliminary inquiries notwithstanding medical negligence
had been alleged by the family. It came to light that the pathologist,
employed by the health authority that would later admit liability
for Robbie's death, withheld from the coroner that Robbie had
been suspected of Addison's disease, that the test to confirm
the condition was ordered, but not performed, and that had it
been Robbie would not have died. The pathologist also misrepresented
Robbie's external appearance in the post mortem report by stating
he was a well-nourished child. Following a decade of campaigning
and a Court Order from
the Attorney General,
the Swansea coroner was forced to open and adjourn an inquest
in December 2000 pending the outcome of an independent police
investigation.
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| The
jury at the subsequent inquest [almost 14 years after the child's
death], presided over by a coroner outside the area, which commenced
on 29 th January 2004, and did not concluded until 30 th April
2004, due to adjournments, found that Robbie had died of natural
causes aggravated by neglect'. The verdict was based on falsified
medical records and the coroner denied the Powells the opportunity
to call witnesses to prove that the medical records were not
authentic. Had the jury known the full truth I believe that
the only verdict that would have been open to the jury would
have been one of unlawful killing'. The doctor who attended
Robbie on arrival at hospital on the night he died, who is now
a Consultant Pediatrician, gave evidence at the inquest. He
confirmed that Robbie had the appearance of a child from a concentration
camp and had never seen such a desperately ill child on arrival
at hospital. This was in direct contrast to the pathologist's
comments in the post mortem report in which she had referred
to Robbie as being a well-nourished child. |
| The
senior partner at the health centre refused Mr Powell's request
for an investigation into Robert's death. The doctors subsequently
falsified Robbie's medical records to create a defence, which
in turn would permit them to evade the consequences of their
gross negligence. The doctors did this with the knowledge that
Mr Powell and a witness, the Revered Thomas, had examined and
noted the original documents. The falsified documents were disclosed
and relied upon during the course of the NHS complaint procedures,
civil proceedings and the inquest. |
| The
Powells had no other option but to complain to the appropriate
Family Practitioners Committee. A Medical Service Committee
in December 1990 exonerated 4 of the GPs and found one to be
in breach of her terms of service she was given the minimum
reprimand. Mr Powell appealed to the Secretary of State for
Wales . A subsequent appeal hearing at the Welsh Office in 1992
collapsed because of alleged maladministration, which the Welsh
Office vigorously denied for three years in the light of evidence
to the contrary. However, even when the Powells were vindicated,
and the Welsh Office was forced to admit the maladministration,
the Powells were still refused their statutory right to a fair
and honest investigation into Robert's death and did not even
receive an apology. However, seven years after the collapse
of the Welsh Office appeal the Parliamentary Ombudsman accepted,
in 1999, after initially refusing to investigate the case in
1993, that it was the Welsh Office's maladministration that
caused the collapse of the appeal. Mr Powell was awarded £500
for the injustice and hardship he had suffered. The Parliamentary
Ombudsman did not recommend that the Welsh Office should now
have an inquiry into Robbie's death and has to date failed to
explain why he initially refused to investigate the Powells'
MP's complaint in 1993. |
| In
May 1994 the then Secretary of State for Wales , John Redwood,
attempted to set up a non-statutory inquiry as a consequence
of the pressure put upon him by Jonathan Evans MP and Rhodri
Morgan MP to do so. The inquiry was aborted because the GPs
refused to participate claiming that they wished the case to
be heard in the civil court. However, when the case was listed
for trial the GPs successfully had the case struck out as they
did not have a duty of care, in civil law, to tell the truth
about the negligent circumstances of Robbie's death [see below].
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| A
complaint to the local police force in 1994 resulted in a 2-year
investigation. However, the Crown Prosecution Service erroneously
decided in 1996 that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute
any of the GPs. It later came to light that the GPs under investigation
had been providing a police surgeon service, to the investigating
force, for the past 20 years. |
| An
outside police force subsequently found that the police investigation
was so flawed that it demonstrated institutional incompetence'.
An independent criminal investigation, by an English police
force, between 2000 and 2002, found that there was evidence
of criminal offences and submitted a file to the CPS in York
. The CPS informed the Powells in writing in April 2003 that
there was sufficient evidence to prosecute at least two
of the GPs for forgery and attempting to pervert the course
of justice. However, they would not be prosecuted, because to
do so, according to the CPS, would be an abuse of process [i.e.
(1) because of the passage of time; (2) because the police failed
to adequately investigate the case between 1994-2000 and (3)
because the head of CID had informed the GPs in writing, in
May 1996, via the GPs' solicitor, that no further action would
be taken against them]. |
| The
Powells were forced into a civil action for negligence hoping
that the truth would be established. However, that wasn't to
be. In 1996 West Glamorgan Health Authority admitted liability
for Robert's death with the same information that was available
on the night the child died [i.e. Addison's disease should have
been diagnosed in December 1989/January 1990]. £80,000
was paid into court, which the Powells initially refused. However,
following a four day hearing, at the High Court in Cardiff ,
the GPs successfully had the case struck out against them as
doctors had no duty of care to tell parents the truth about
the negligent circumstances of a child's death nor to refrain
from deliberately falsifying medical records. |
| As
a consequence of the judgment, the Powells' legal advisers and
a representative from the Legal Aid Board informed them that
if they did not accept the compensation from the health authority
they would have their Legal Aid Certificate forthwith discharged
and would not be in a position to appeal to the Court
of Appeal against the High Court judgment. The compensation
was therefore reluctantly accepted by Mrs Powell and secured
by the court pending the outcome of the appeal. The appeal failed,
as did the Powells' subsequent Petition to the House of Lords
and the compensation was completely absorbed in legal costs
there was also an Order for costs against the Powells and the
appeal judges told them that there is no more that they could
do. The case was then submitted to the European Court of Human
Rights but was deemed, on the 4 th May 2000 , to be inadmissible.
This was because the Powells could not claim to be victims under
Article 2 of the Convention as they had accepted £80,000
compensation in civil proceedings and had withdrawn from the
Welsh Office appeal. The Parliamentary Ombudsman's report confirming
that it was the Welsh Office's maladministration that had caused
the collapse of the appeal was disclosed to the ECHR but completely
ignored. By accepting the compensation in the civil proceedings,
it was claimed that the Powells had denied themselves the opportunity
to have a full adversarial hearing on their allegations of negligence
in the British Courts, to subject the doctors concerned to cross-examination
under oath and obtain discovery of all documents relevant to
their claim. The European Court also considered that the Powells
could have made their grievances about the medical records a
live issue before the court and that there is no reason to doubt
that this would have dominated the pleadings. The European Court
also failed to take into consideration, or ignored the fact,
that the Powells had been forced to accept the compensation
because of the restrictions of public funding in Britain [see
above]. It was therefore erroneous of the European Court to
say that the Powells denied themselves the opportunity to a
full adversarial hearing as the decision to accept the compensation
was taken completely out of their control by the British Justice
System. Furthermore, the Powells had in any event sacrificed
the compensation attempting to get the doctors into court. A
year later, several of the same European judges ruled, in Jordan
v UK that civil proceedings did not fulfil the State's
obligation under Article 2 as these proceedings are initiated
by the bereaved relatives. |
| The
law as it stands today: |
| Below
is the last paragraph of page 15 of the European Court of Human
Right's judgment in William & Anita Powell v United Kingdom
Application no. 45305/99]: |
| "Whilst
it is arguable that doctors had a duty not to falsify medical
records under the common law (Sir Donaldson MR's "duty of
candour"), before Powell v Boladz there was no binding decision
of the courts as to the existence of such a duty. As the law
stands now, however, doctors have no duty to give parents
of a child who died as a result of their negligence a truthful
account of the circumstances of the death, nor even to refrain
from deliberately falsifying records." |
| In
response to this astonishing judgment the British Medical
Association stated [GP Magazine 11/7/97 ]: "GPs could now
put a gloss on the cause of death without fear of litigation."
|
| It
is interesting to note that there is a law to protect the
privacy of the Prime Minister's children but there is no provision
in law for parents to know the truth after their child has
died as a result of a doctor's negligence. |
| It
is the view of the Powells, and that of many others, that
the NHS complaint procedures are conveniently structured to
protect the medical profession. Furthermore, the NHS complaints
procedure and medical negligence litigation will be compromised
until such a time that doctors have a legal duty of care to
tell the truth about the negligent circumstances of a patient's
death and are precluded by law from falsifying medical records.
There is also no current mechanism to address impropriety
and the abuse of power by individuals within the NHS investigating
authorities and government. The absence of a deterrent not
only breeds complacency but encourages individuals, with a
conflict of interest, to cover up medical mistakes. The Powells
have taken their complaints to the Prime Minister on several
occasions. However, the complaints are referred straight back
to the individuals complained against and the complaints are
again brushed under the carpet of deceit. It is the failure
of the government to address public concern that leads to
such atrocities as the Bristol Heart Babies and many others.
For
evil to prevail it is sufficient only that good men/women
do nothing. |
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E-Mail: ukcommissues@aol.com
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