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Podiatrist struck off for persistent failings and reckless disregard

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by NewsBot, Mar 13, 2015.

  1. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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    Press Release:
    Podiatrist struck off for persistent failings and reckless disregard
     
  2. DAVOhorn

    DAVOhorn Well-Known Member

    This is an interesting outcome.

    Mark Russell has been challenging the HCPC over its remit.

    So this chap Simon Valente has bee struck off the HCPC register. He will lose his employment with the NHS.

    So what next ?????

    What are the options:
    1: Tesco
    2: Poundland
    3: Pubwork

    4: Set up a nice Private Practice.

    Now my understanding of the outcome of the Mark Russell case is that :

    You can use your qualification. So Podiatrist BSc Podiatry.:drinks

    Cannot claim HCPC Registered but how many in the big wide world actually care about HCPC registration ??????:craig:

    Looking at the number of FHP etc etc plying their trade in my locality it is very few members of the Public.:bash:

    So apart from NHS PATIENTS being protected by him not being employed by the NHS, from poor record keeping, I question how the Public are actually being protected by the HCPC rigour in maintaining standards of registrants.

    This is why in my opinion Mark Russell's case is so important.

    Why does it mostly seem to be anciliary tasks that get one deregistered. Yes accurate record keeping is important, but as important as competent relevant treatment ?????.

    14032015 14.25 oooppss silly me caused an almighty haem on 3rd digit blood everywhere. washed with bleach scented with citrus and applied a tourniquet. patient said toe was comfortable and not concerned at all.

    Accurate and contemporaneous. excellent :deadhorse:

    David
     
  3. Catfoot

    Catfoot Well-Known Member

    I think there is more to this case than meets the eye.

    I believe the practitioner used to work as an NHS Chiropody Manager in the Scarborough area.

    His HCPC Reg No indicates that he qualified about 1978 making him late 50's.

    I think this is more about the Trust concerned wanting to get rid of it's "older" personnel than about any serious failings on the part of the person concerned.

    Maybe this had something to do with it -

    http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/local/runner-s-heart-attack-scare-1-1386225

    Just my 2 penneth ......
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
  4. ProspectivePod

    ProspectivePod Active Member

    It would be a terrible shame if this striking off of the HCPC register was based on your ideas Catfoot. Sadly I wouldn't be all too surprised.

    What worries me more is the fact that in a majority of these HCPC hearings, the practitioner is neither present nor represented. Surely the practitioner in question should always be represented, well that's my opinion. I do know that the HCPC has been called out on these hearing before, being more of a kangaroo court than anything else and the inconsistency with which they strike people off the register. Rather worrisome but not surprising.
     
  5. Catfoot

    Catfoot Well-Known Member

    PP,
    I think that these sort of cases say a lot more about the Modus Operandi of the Trusts concerned, rather than about the HCPC.

    None of us know the full background to the case, and I myself haven't seen the full transcript. So much of what we think is built on speculation.

    If anyone has seen the full transcript, then I would be glad of their input.
     
  6. ProspectivePod

    ProspectivePod Active Member

    Catfoot
    That is very true and like you've mentioned all we can do is simply speculate regarding the reasons for why the case was brought to hearing. There's obviously more to the case though but what they may or not be I'm not certain.

    Interesting about your comments regarding the trust in question. All I hope is that the reason for the outcome was a just one and not one of agenda.

    Ashley
     
  7. Were the HCPC to audit the records of every NHS Trust and private practice and apply the same standards and outcome as in this case, there would be hundreds if not thousands of registrants struck-off. I recall records that say no more than
    and they were the better ones. I've worked with Simon many years ago and found him to be a conscientious, caring clinician and very much supportive of his staff in Scarborough and I am very saddened to hear of his troubles.

    Throughout the NHS many senior clinicians are retiring early, fed-up with looking over their shoulders constantly to see who might be pointing the finger or complaining about their care to the regulatory authorities. Blame and recrimination has become the established culture in current practice. Once upon a time you sat down with your colleague and worked the problem out - these days it's your colleagues that snitch and stitch you up. Here's a thing; have you any idea how many complaints to the HCPC are made by podiatrists about another colleague every year - and what percentage of these complaints are dismissed as "no case to answer"? The answer might surprise you. I've had two complaints made to the HCPC about me. The first a decade ago by a UNISON representative and fellow podiatrist was dismissed after a twelve month 'investigation' as 'no case to answer'. The NHS Trust where we both worked had previously investigated the same complaint six months earlier and found it malicious, vexatious and without foundation. The Trust suspended the complainant prior to disciplinary proceedings which eventually led to her dismissal. The second complaint made by a grandparent podiatrist (concurrently with a registered osteopath) led to the current prosecution for the alleged PoT offence and was a complete fabrication. This podiatrist and osteopath are now facing a criminal prosecution for attempting to pervert the course of justice, much to the embarrassment of the HCPC, I suspect.

    In the latter case, it was the failure of the HCPC's investigative to properly evaluate the evidence that resulted in the most expensive prosecution by the HCPC so far. The regulator has a duty of care to its registrants to investigate complaints impartially and fully and in line with their statutory duties. From my experience, they are, in that respect, not fit for purpose.
     
  8. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Indeed. The HCPC do not in any way, shape or form `protect the public`. Quite the converse as you have elucidated, David.
     
  9. ProspectivePod

    ProspectivePod Active Member

    At least I'm not the only one who thinks the HCPC and protection of public are not synonymous.
     
  10. David Smith

    David Smith Well-Known Member

    This is not just a case of public not being protected or the NHS using the HCPC as a disciplinary tool and a method to reduce budgets. Its a man without a career and a family with no income and all the distress and worry that will go with that, Starting up a private practice even if its as a Foot health practitioner isn't easy, there's not a massive queue of people waiting for someone to start up. It takes much time and captial investment to start up a viable practice and enough resources to keep going till enough profit is being made.
    I think the HCPC itself is malicious in intent and loves to discipline and strike off without regard for the consequences and the way the NHS use it is disgusting and should be abandoned tout suite

    Dave Smith
     
  11. I think sometimes, large organisations like the HCPC forget that it's an individual at the other end of their ire, not that I have any direct experience, of course. There are times when it is essential that someone is prohibited from practice. Criminal offences such as theft from patients, sexual offences and gross misconduct like working under the influence - where there is real risk to the patient, then absolutely. But poor record keeping? Setting aside the potential loss of an experienced practitioner to the community, there will be an enormous affect on that individual in finding alternate work - and to their reputation. If a problem was identified with this aspect of someones practice, I would have thought the management might have invested some time to resolve it - talking to the individual to find out what had gone wrong. But that assumes an environment of conciliation and support - rather than the punitive and intimidatory one that exists in the service today. It's not just podiatry - it is the prevailing culture within the NHS, which is why so many experienced senior clinicians are retiring early. You get p!ssed off looking over your shoulders all the time. The HCPC were only doing what they're supposed to do - the FtP panel will no doubt have considered the case properly and within their remit. And the NHS Trust may have tried to resolve the situation in-house on a number of occasions, I assume they did. But it's another wasted career and a loss to the profession and the community, where with a different environment, that might not have been the case.

    There is much that you do not know at present about the conduct of the HCPC and its agents - and to the lengths they are prepared to go to hide the deception they have been purveying for the last decade. But you will, soon enough. Whether or not the profession decides to take a different position that it currently adopts remains to be seen, but it would be a terrible shame if the graduates today were to traverse their professional careers under the same crap legislation that we've had to endure since 1960.
     
  12. David Smith

    David Smith Well-Known Member

    Watch this space eh!!??:cool:
     
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