Reflective practice and gross negligence manslaughter.

Abstract

The collective imagination of the junior doctor workforce was captured by the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a paediatrics registrar given a 2-year suspended sentence for gross negligence manslaughter. Up and down the country, outrage and half-truths circulated in the doctors’ mess. The rumour that the GMC had used Dr Bawa-Garba’s written reflections against her was particularly difficult to dispel. It was not strictly true — Dr Bawa-Garba’s portfolio reflections had not been used by either side — but nevertheless resulted in many doctors discovering that theoretically the GMC could use their own reflections against them. The backlash that followed was at the top of the agenda in February 2018 when Jeremy Hunt commissioned a rapid review of medical gross negligence manslaughter, led by Professor Sir Norman Williams. The review, which released its report on …