Harris responds to the Chief Medical Officer's new guidelines on medical expert witnesses

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 30th Oct 2006

Responding to the proposals by Sir Liam Donaldson aimed at providing more medical expert witnesses Dr Evan Harris MP, Lib Dem member of the Science and Technology Select Ctte which recently issued a report on expert witnesses, said

"It is critical that the medical expert witnesses are treated fairly and that failure of a prosecution in child abuse cases is not seen as a failure or negligence by doctors whose duty is to report serious concerns to the authorities."

"The public attacks - and indeed witch hunts - against doctors working in this difficult area, who are not allowed to defend themselves in the media, only serves to deter medical professionals from working in the area of child protection."

"The price of avoiding future cases like Victoria Climbie where a succession of doctors failed to consider abuse or report their concerns leading to a tragic death, is occasional investigations and even prosecutions of innocent parents. We rely on the courts to prevent miscarriage of justice in these cases as in all other areas."

Related Link:

Bearing Good Witness: Proposals for reforming the delivery of medical expert evidence in family law cases - A consultation.