CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE


NOT long ago Dr Malcolm Campbell visited our Glasgow office to provide some details of his role as a primary care expert in clinical negligence. He is the subject of this month’s MDDUS profile (page 14 of this issue) and offered some fascinating insights into the task of formulating a medical opinion in sometimes complex cases. Sadly there was not space enough to include all of the many interesting things Malcolm had to say. One key question he did pose during our discussion was why one doctor gets sued and another does not for making the same error. In answer to this he offered an anecdote: “One of my patients came to see me last week clutching a bottle of champagne and a going-away card – as I’m just now easing out of my practice. This was a woman in whom I’d missed a pulmonary embolus. I had lots of good reasons for missing it. She had long-standing asthma and she was breathless and all


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the rest of it. When she got out of hospital she came to see me and said ‘you missed that one doctor’. And I said ‘Yep, I did. Sorry’. And now years later she comes with a bottle of champagne and a card; someone else would have sued.” Malcolm speculates that it may simply be a matter of luck but


there is a more likely explanation: “I think obviously if you have known a patient for a very long time and they believe that you do your best, then your chances of getting sued are lessened considerably than if it’s someone you have never seen before. And I had known this girl since she was a baby.” Perhaps there is no better argument for valuing continuity of


care. There is plenty more of interest in this rather practical- minded issue of Summons.


Jim Killgore, editor


AN INSPECTOR CALLS Solicitor Laura Irvine offers


guidance to doctors or dentists providing police statements


OPINION ON… Latest in a series of profiles on


professionals who work with MDDUS – Jim Killgore talks to Dr Malcolm Campbell who acts as medical expert in clinical negligence cases


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CLINICAL RISK REDUCTION Mr Simon Bennet and Mr


Michael Kelly highlight common pitfalls in the assessment and management of acute fractures


TAKING CONTROL NES decontamination adviser


Irene Black offers some tips to dental practices on how to keep in line with the latest guidance


Editor:


Jim Killgore Associate editor: Joanne Curran


Cover image: The Orange Canoe by Tim Cockburn


Born 1955 in Sheffield, Tim Cockburn studied Painting at Edinburgh College of Art between 1974-78. Tim is inspired by his extensive travels in India and Sri Lanka: his main theme being the landscape which he paints in a bright, vivid palette. This work perfectly illustrates the smooth look of a typical screenprint where different coloured inks are pushed through a finely meshed screen onto the paper.


AUTUMN 2012


Editorial departments: MEDICAL Dr Gail Gilmartin DENTAL Mr Aubrey Craig LEGAL RISK


Simon Dinnick Peter Johnson


Please address correspondence to:


Summons Editor MDDUS Mackintosh House 120 Blythswood Street Glasgow G2 4EA


jkillgore@mddus.com


Design and production: CMYK Design 0131 556 2220 www.cmyk-design.co.uk


REGULARS 4 Notice Board


6 News Digest 8 Employment Law: What a performance!


9 Ethics: Tweeting well 10 Profile: Dr Alistair Beattie 11 Q&A: Professor Gordon Dickson 20 Case studies: Caution sometimes best, Only what’s necessary, A rare fever


22 Addenda: Articulated iron mannequin, Waste not, want not, Crossword and Vignette: Sir Michael Woodruff, organ transplant pioneer


Printing and distribution: L&S Litho


Summons is published quarterly by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. • Tel: 0845 270 2034 • Fax: 0141 228 1208


Email: General: info@mddus.com • Membership services: membership@mddus.com • Marketing: marketing@mddus.com • Website: www.mddus.com The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.


The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in Summons are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland.


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