Thread by @sbattrawden

If you haven’t heard of this case yet, it should worry you. That a GP could be held liable for the fact that a child with a disability was brought into existence is horrifying.

Let alone the impact on the NHS 🧵👇🏻 1/

#IAmPhilipMitchell @mailplus

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Disclaimer: I am doctor. But I am also the mother of a wonderful little boy with cerebral palsy after an extremely premature birth. Here are my thoughts 👇🏻 2/

The claimant in this case was born with a neural tube defect, otherwise known as spinal bifida. She is now 20 and is by all accounts a remarkable women, a para- show jumper and a disability advocate. 3/

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Remarkably, she successfully sued her mother’s GP for her existence. The case appears to have hinged on whether the GP gave adequate advice to her mother regarding taking folic acid in what would have been a 10 minute consultation over 20 years ago. 4/

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The GP documented ‘folate if desired’ and said it was usual practice to give mothers the evidence and let them decide. The mother argued that this was inadequate and she left with the impression she didn’t need to take it. 5/

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The judge favoured the mother’s account over the GPs about exactly what happened in that consultation room over 20 years ago. But bizarrely the type of spina bifida the claimant has is thought not to be preventable with folic acid. Read on…6/

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Instead it was argued that had the GP given stronger advice to take folic acid, the mother would have DELAYED conception, and this, it was reasoned, would have resulted in the conception of a different child, a healthy child without a disability. 7/

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The judge ruled in favour of the claimant and found that the GP was liable for damages related to the fact that the claimant exists.

The message that this sends to people with a disability is heartbreaking but there are also ramifications for the NHS 8/

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Where does a doctor’s responsibility end and patient accountability begin? Great strides have been taken to move away from paternalism in medicine, where a doctor decides what is right for a patient, towards patient-centred care, where a patient decides what is best for them. 9/

How on earth are doctors to be expected to cover ever single thing that can go wrong, talk about the risks and benefits in great detail and comprehensively document it all in case a patient sues in 20 years time? How is that possible in a 10 minute GP or clinic appointment? 10/

This is watershed case that threatens to change the face of medicine. Already there have been calls to double appointment times to allow doctors to accurately document in detail what was said. This is at a time where patients are already struggling to get an appointment. 11/

Additionally, this ruling opens the floodgates for other claimants to come forward, and indeed lawyers are already encouraging people to sue.

At a time our NHS is already struggling and we still in the middle of a pandemic this seems abhorrent. 12/

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Was my son’s disability preventable? I will never know. But what I do know is that if it wasn’t for the NHS he would not be here at all. For that I am grateful every single day. And no lawyer will convince me otherwise 💙

/ends

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Huge thanks to @NHSMillion @EmergencyMedDr @RoshanaMN @DrVoles @wanderingwelch @DAUK_GP @TheDA_UK @DrJennyVaughan who have all been supporting Dr Philip Mitchell and his family @Oboekath behind the scenes.

#IAmPhilipMitchell

Full judgement here in PDF for anyone who would like to read the whole thing. Would be interested in your thoughts! 👇🏻

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