Witness: Jennifer ElaineRitaColman Dateof Statement: 14 th January2005 INTHE HIGHCOURT OF JUSTICE CASE Nos: U20040178 QUEENSBENCH DIVISION BM312260 BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT REGISTRY BETWEEN DR RITA PAL Claimant - and- (1) GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (2) CATHERINE GREEN (3) PETER LYNN (4) SARAH BEDWELL Defendants ___________________________________________________________________ WITNESSSTATEMENT OF JENNIFER ELAINE RITA COLMAN ___________________________________________________________________ I, Dr Jennifer ElaineRitaColman, will say: 1. I amaregisteredmedical practitioner andwasanelectedmedical member of the General Medical Council from28April 2000until 30June2003. I holdthe qualificationsof Bachelor of ArtsandMaster of ArtsfromtheUniversity of Cambridge, LicentiateinMedicineandSurgeryfromtheSocietyof Apothecaries inLondon, TheCommonProfessional LawExaminationfromNottinghamLaw School andMaster of LawsfromtheLondonSchool of Economics. I havealso beenCalledtotheBar andamregisteredwiththeBar Council asanonpractising Barrister. I act asanadvisor toethnic minoritydoctors. 2 2. I waselectedtotheGeneral Medical Council (GMC) asaresult of aby-election in2000andheldsome3,500majorityover anyother electeddoctor onthecouncil. Theelectoratewasthewholeof theregistereddoctorsinEngland. It wasmy positionthat I waselectedtoserveinthepublic interest andnot torepresent individual doctorsontheCouncil. It ismy positionthat thetruemedical interest is thesameasthepublic interest whenservingontheGeneral Medical Council. 3. WhenI waselectedtherewasanamount of publicity surroundingmyelection. However this waslargely asaresult of averysmall number of peoplewithinthe medical profession, whomI subsequentlyfoundhadalongandcontinuous relationshipdirectly withtheOfficeof thePresident andChief Executiveinthe Council. It isalsocorrect tosaythat in1987I waserasedfromthemedical register andrestoredin1989, at whichtimetherewasanadmissionby theChairmanof the panel that I shouldnot havebeenbeforetheCommitteein1987or at all. Evidence hasnowcometolight that leadsmetobelieve, asI didat thetime, that mattershad not beendealt withfairly or properlywithintheGMC andthat theydidnot use their procedurescorrectly, but that anassistant registrar hadmadeadecisionto erasemebasedonhisownopinionthat I wasseriously mentally ill andheplaced his owndiagnosisuponmewithout anyknowledgeor justificationI canoffer evidenceif askedinsupportof this. Thesenior partner of LeBrasseurs, solicitors, alsorecordedthat his opinionwasthat this personwasactingbeyondhis powers. It isrelevant alsofor metorefer tothefact that this mayhavewell beentriggeredin part by mycomplaint asajunior doctor, tomyClinical School about the inadequacies of thejobI wasinfor trainingpurposesandabout my immediate senior doctor, whorefusedtogivemecover ashis junior at night whenI wason takefor emergency admissions. Patient safetywascompromisedonseveral occasionsasaresult. Andthefact that I hadcomplainedinwritingwasheld against me. I havereferredtothis matter for tworeasons. Firstly it isbecausethere will beadeterminedattempt tounderminemy personal credibilityasawitness, whichiswrong. Secondly becauseit goestotheheart of thestorywhichDr Pal has alwaysheldtoinher case. 4. I readanarticleabout Dr Pal intheSundayTimes inApril 2000. That wasthefirst timeI hadheardabout her andI knewfrommy ownexperiencetherewasmore 3 likely thannot sometruthinwhat shehadsaid. However I alsothought at thetime that shewouldplaceherself inadangeroussituationpersonally andprofessionally for speakingout assuchajunior doctor andit wasreminiscent of mymuchearlier experience. Soonafter thearticleappearedI spoketoadoctor whoknewDr Pal, Dr Ilagaratne, whoput meintouchwithher. AsDr Pal wasayoungdoctor I felt I shouldspeak toher aboutthepotential problemsshemight befacinghavinggone public onmatterswhichmost doctorsknowandexperiencebut fewdarespeak about. I subsequently hadtwolengthy conversationswithDr Pal by telephone. She toldmeabouther family andher experiencesasjunior doctor intheTrust. I told her about mineandalsotoldher that shewouldmorelikely thannot findherself at thereceivingendof aninvestigationandthat matterswouldbeturnedagainst her. Dr Pal isthereforecorrect whenshereferstothis conversation, whichwehad. 5. At thetimeDr Pal seemedconvincedthat inspiteof what hadhappenedtomeand myadvicetoher tobemorecircumspect, that nothingwouldhappentoher. I put this downtoher youthandlack of lifeexperience. Her problems hadoccurredafter leavingher Londonteachinghospital andhavingajobinaprovincial hospital, whichcanoftenbeashocktoanewdoctor havingcomefromawell staffedhighly regardedteachinghospital. AlthoughI hadnot met Dr Pal, I didnot consider her irrational whenwespokebut I realisedshewasbraver thanmost. Followingthe conversationswhichI hadwithDr Pal I hadnomorecontact until May2004, when shesuddenly sent meanE-mail remindingmeof our earlier conversationsand askedif I couldhelpher. At that timeI thought I coulddoverylittleandE-mailed her withtheonly knowledgeI hadof what hadoccurredtoher subsequently throughtheGMC. 6. I amalsoawareof thefact that Dr Pal subsequentlywroteaboutmeunfavourably andmistakenly onher websitebut I holdnoanimosity for her for that andhavetold her that, andshehasexpressedher regret. However, shehadmistakenly believed that I wasactingonbehalf ontheGMC whenI spoketoher andhadwrittenthat on her website. Havingreflectedonwhat I toldher inmyE-mail of replyinMay2004 I realisethat I cangiveevidencetosupport her story. 7. Oneof thethingsI toldDr Pal inMay2000isthat shewouldbepursuedbythe 4 GMC andthat after shesent her dossier of complaintstotheCouncil andwasthen invitedtoseetheir solicitorsthat that wouldbeapoint wheninquiries wouldmore likely thannot start tobemadeintoher rather thanher complaints. It seemsthis wasthecase. I havedirect experienceof twoother junior doctorswhohavemade complaintsingoodfaithtotheCouncil andinbothcasesthesecomplaintshave beenignoredandleft inabeyancewhilst aninquiryhasgoneonaroundthe complainant without their knowledgeandinformationhasbeentrawledfromothers inorder totryandbuildacaseagainst thecomplainant. Bothof thesedoctorshave subsequentlybecomethefocusof theCouncilsFitnesstoPractiseproceduresand caseshavebeenraisedagainst them. AlthoughDr Pal isaBritishAsian, it maybe of somenotethat bothof theother doctorsareoverseas doctorswhowerewell settledintheUK andthecomplaintswereagainst consultantsandinvolved questionablepractiseandpatient safety. 8. Theonly timewhenI discussedDr Pal at theGMC waswhenSir DonaldIrvine, thethenpresident hadinvitedmetohavelunchwithhimon23June2000inthe small diningroomat 44HallamStreet. Theonly other personpresent wasMiss Isabel Nisbet, thethenDirector of FitnesstoPractise. Duringthecourseof that conversationwetouchedonanumber of topicsincludingmyexperiencesasa junior doctor. It wasat that timethat I toldSir DonaldIrvinethat I hadhadthe conversationswithDr Pal andthat I hadadvisedher that sheshouldnot write thingsonher websitewhich, nomatter howvalidtheywere, wouldmorelikely be usedagainst her bytheGMC andthat shewouldbesubjectedtoahealthinquiryas thebest wayfor themtoundermineher credibility bothpersonally and professionally wouldbetospreadtheviewthat shewassufferingfroma psychiatric disorder. Neither thePresident nor Isabel Nisbet madeanyattempt to denythis or that theywouldbeginaninquiryaroundDr Pal. Thereappearedtobe animplicit understandingbetweenusthat this washowtheydidtheir businessand that inviewof myownpast experienceswiththem, thenI wouldknowthat that wasthecase. It wasonly veryrecently that I realisedthat evenasI sat discussing this withthePresident theGMC hadalready startedaninquiryintoDr Pal. 9. TheGMC doesnot always act oncomplaints fromcomplainantsbut oftenusesthe right toraiseacaseagainst adoctor by wayof information. Thisiswhat appearsto 5 havebeendoneinthecaseof Dr Pal whenshecomplainedin theyears2000. Informationiscirculatedaroundandageneral trawl done. Thiscanlast for a number of yearsuntil theGMC believes it hasraisedenoughinformationtowrite tothedoctor havingopenedacaseagainst that doctor. It appearsthat this iswhat hadbeengoingonaroundDr Pal, whowasunawareof it until sheservedaSubject AccessOrder ontheGMC andfoundwhat theyhadbeendoing. I didthesamein 2002andwasshockedtofindwhat theyhadbeenwritingabout mefor over two years. Other doctorshavealsoinvokedtheir right tohavetheir datafromtheGMC by thismethodandfoundtheimplications for themthroughthis unreasonable trawl. 10. I havehadcontact withDr Pal for somemonthsnowandI havenodoubt because of my ownandfromwhat I knowof other doctorsexperiencesthat sheisright in her claimsabout thebehaviour of theGMC anditsemployees. Hersit not an isolatedcase. I still havenodoubt, asfar asI amabletojudge, that Dr Pal isnot irrational andinanyevent sheisstill inpractiseandwouldnot besoif therewas anyquestionabout her fitness topractise, giventheconcertedeffort toundermine her credibility andremoveher frompractiseanddamageher professionally. Statement of Truth I believethat thefactscontainedinthis statement aretrue, Signed:.. Dr Jennifer ElaineRitaColman Dated: 14January 2005 INTHE HIGHCOURT OF JUSTICE 6 QUEENSBENCH DIVISION BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT REGISTRY CaseNumbers: U20040178 BM312260 BETWEEN DR RITA PAL Claimant -and- (1) GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (2) CATHERINE GREEN (3) PETERLYNN (4) SARAH BEDWELL Defendants __________________________________ WITNESSSTATEMENT OF JENNIFER ELAINE RITA COLMAN ___________________________________