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Dr's Dabek and Samberger |
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This item appeared in the The Herald newspaper on 16 April 2005 following
the General Medical Council statement about the case of Dr Dabek and Dr
Samberger. The Herald THE controversy over maternity services rekindled yesterday when it emerged that the General Medical Council has not supported NHS Highland's sacking of two locum obstetricians last summer. An employment tribunal scheduled for August will scrutinise the health board's treatment of the two doctors, who are also taking advice about a civil action. Michal Samberger and Kazimierz Dabek, from Poland, were dismissed after the health authority raised concerns about the standard of their practice. It came as NHS Highland disputed with the local community over plans to downgrade the consultant-led maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital to a midwifery-led facility. The doctors had been recruited from an agency, after a month-long suspension of deliveries at the unit in April when the last full-time consultant became ill. Both the health board and the agency insisted the doctors' qualifications and references were genuine, although the latter did question how much recent practical experience they had enjoyed. However, a GMC investigation has found nothing to support the health authority's concerns. The GMC yesterday said its policy was not to discuss such cases, but its ruling is contained in letters the doctors received from the GMC's investigations officer, Fiona Garry. It states: "NHS Highland was unable to provide us with any information to support its allegations that your clinical competence was impaired or below expected standards." She added: "As you had not worked in the UK previously, you could not be expected to fully understand or operate within the protocols of the NHS without additional support.". A GMC spokeswoman confirmed that both doctors are on the register and free to practice anywhere in the country. Dr Dabek and Dr Samberger are fighting to to win an apology from NHS Highland and a recall of the letter it circulated to health authorities. They claim their reputations have been ruined and they have suffered financial loss. Speaking from his home town of Lublin, where he is working on a self-employed basis at the university hospital. Dr Samberger welcomed the ruling: "I was speaking to someone from the agency who placed us in Wick and they say even now they can't find work for me." Dr Samberger claimed they made scapegoats in a deliberate attempt to undermine the future of the consultant-run maternity unit. Garry Cutts, chairman of NHS Highlands, said: "As there are still ongoing legal proceedings I have been advised not to make any comment." |