A psychiatrist who downed three bottles of wine before a head-on crash has been allowed to keep her job after she was deemed 'no risk' to patients.
Unless those patients are driving home when she's clocking off, I presume?
Dr Deborah Staite, 50, was uninsured and did not even have a driving licence at the time of the collision in 2020.
She had failed to renew it after serving a previous ban for drink-driving, a tribunal heard.
/facepalm
GMC lawyer Laura Barbour told a hearing of the medical practitioners' tribunal service: 'The public are entitled to assume that the doctor treating them abides by the law.
'This is a case where the doctor's conduct was so serious that action must be taken to protect members of the public and maintain confidence in the profession.
'There is a risk of repetition.'
Well, yes. clearly. She's already a multiple offender!
Philip McGhee, for Staite, told the tribunal: 'A reasonable and properly informed member of the public would not expect Dr Staite to be punished by an order of suspension… given what she has already gone through.'
Wanna bet? I'm one of those, McGhee, and I expect her to be suspended.
The tribunal found Staite's fitness to practise was impaired but that suspension would be 'unnecessary, disproportionate and punitive'.
She will face a review hearing in three years.
What's wrong with a punitive measure? Do they think she shouldn't be punished?
She didn't even get sent to prison
ReplyDelete?
Nope!
Delete"A psychiatrist who downed three bottles of wine before a head-on crash, was uninsured and did not even have a driving licence at the time of the collision in 2020."
ReplyDeleteLove it.
I must confess I didn't appreciate that loosing your job was one of the penalties for drunk driving. So why should she lose her job unless that job requires driving around and she was sacked because she is unable to fulfil here duties.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in this mickey mouse country making a joke is sufficient for you to go to jail and lose your job while being drunk, and without a driving license or insurance, deserves no punishment is just crazy. We need to fix punishments in the country but while the punishments are made up by PC pansys and not hang them high advocates like yourself then they will always be wrong.
Regardless, losing you job over a criminal offence is not mandated by law and therefore should not be automatic.
Lord T,
ReplyDeleteIt's not the actual offence that matters, rather than it's the attitude of this woman that normal rules don't apply to her. If she evades punishment for these offences, then what rules of her profession will she decide also don't apply to her?
Penseivat, That is more a comment on our justice system. From where I am unless it is for writing an upsetting tweet nobody faces punishment. Justice isn't even on the table. Do we add in more punishments for everyone that goes through our justice system depending on what jobs they do and how upset people are about what has happened?
ReplyDeleteIf she ignores the rules of her profession, illegal or not, then she will get investigated by her employer and as it isn't our wishy washy CPS or *cough* justices then she is likely to get sacked.
The justice system we had, many years ago, was just but now, pathetic senstences, victim statements, etc. its a farce. Lets not make it worse by adding in punishments that assume she will do things. Punish for what happened and make it just.
But we must consider the risk she poses. She's clearly not learned her lesson.
DeleteShe's not a risk to anyone, as long as they're not walking in front of her driving a car...
ReplyDeleteI'd say being drunk on the job may be a prerequisite for someone having to put up with other people's petty s**t.