Doctors will be urged to back landmark High Court Meadows Judgement

9.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 28th Jun 2006

At the BMA's Annual Representatives Meeting in Belfast tomorrow, the BMA will be urged to back the High Court judgement which reversed the GMC's decision to strike off Professor Sir Roy Meadow for serious professional misconduct and extended the immunity from professional disciplinary action already given to court witnesses to include expert witnesses as well.

Dr Evan Harris, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and a former hospital doctor, who will be proposing the motion for the Oxford division will say:

"The way Sir Roy Meadow was treated by the media and by the GMC was outrageous. The High Court was absolutely right to find that he should not have been found guilty of professional misconduct and should not have been struck off.

"The High Court was also right to extend immunity from GMC proceedings to cover expert witnesses except where they have been censured and/or referred for disciplinary proceedings by the trial judge."

Professor Meadow was not criticised or censured by the trial judge in the Sally Clark case and the High Court ruled that he presented his flawed information in good faith. The GMC and the Government are appealing against the extension of immunity granted by Mister Justice Collins.

"The impact of the treatment of Sir Roy Meadow by the media and the GMC has had a marked impact on the willingness of paediatricians to serve as expert witnesses in the already fraught field of child protection." said Dr Harris, the only MP to have supported Professor Meadow before his acquittal in the High Court.

Dr Harris, himself the son of a paediatrician, said:

"I will be urging doctors to vote for this motion which requires the BMA to oppose moves by the GMC and the Government to reinstate the risk of career-ending disciplinary action for medical expert witnesses even in the absence of judicial criticism or referral."

"Vulnerable children need doctors willing to testify in this area of work and the GMC has shown a failure to provide a balanced judgement in cases attracting media and pressure group hype such as the Meadow case."