Further to my previous post, Council apologise to parents of autistic girl, the GMC fitness to practice hearing for the doctor appointed by Carmarthenshire County Council has continued this week. Last night, Dr Rowan Wilson was found guilty of serious misconduct but was ruled fit to practice as he had shown remorse and insight into the errors he was "highly unlikely to repeat". The Tribunal also invited legal submissions on whether to impose a warning on his registration as a doctor.
Dr Wilson's lawyer said that he had acted in good faith but had been misled by a care worker, employed by Carmarthenshire Council, acting on a "very significant element of malice". An expert witness said that one simple phone call (or a google search for that matter) would have alerted him to the unreliability of Facilitated Communication.
The GMC lawyer said that while the major culpability lay with Carmarthenshire County Council, social workers and care workers, Dr Wilson's report had played a major part in keeping the autistic woman, now 21, from her parents. As a result she has suffered long term effects, remains distressed and finds it very difficult to leave her home.
As for Carmarthenshire Council, the Ombudsman has given his ruling of 'significant injustice', but the question still remains as to why senior officers, including those from the Social Care department failed to heed early warnings and were complicit in the near destruction of this family. It is also still the case that the private care company remain subcontracted by the council and continue to provide respite care to families with autistic children.
Dr Wilson's lawyer said that he had acted in good faith but had been misled by a care worker, employed by Carmarthenshire Council, acting on a "very significant element of malice". An expert witness said that one simple phone call (or a google search for that matter) would have alerted him to the unreliability of Facilitated Communication.
The GMC lawyer said that while the major culpability lay with Carmarthenshire County Council, social workers and care workers, Dr Wilson's report had played a major part in keeping the autistic woman, now 21, from her parents. As a result she has suffered long term effects, remains distressed and finds it very difficult to leave her home.
As for Carmarthenshire Council, the Ombudsman has given his ruling of 'significant injustice', but the question still remains as to why senior officers, including those from the Social Care department failed to heed early warnings and were complicit in the near destruction of this family. It is also still the case that the private care company remain subcontracted by the council and continue to provide respite care to families with autistic children.
13 comments:
and some of the officers involved in this case were also involved in my complaint, the report of which was published in Sept 2009. This is why I am so appalled that officers severely criticised in the Sept 2009 report were given a second chance. Lessons are only learnt by holding officers to account and this must now happen swiftly. Surely this must be within the remit of the Social Care Executive Board?
The Executive Board Member for Social Care was Cllr Pat Jones, she was reshuffled off the Cabinet after the election, it is now in the remit of Cllr Jane Tremlett. If she is doing her job properly she should be publicly asking some serious questions and demanding answers from Mr Bruce McLernon, Director of Social Care.
I have been asking for answers from Bruce McLernon for a long time and as late as this year I have written to him twice to ask why the assault on me was never investigated. As you know the care worker went on to hit a vulnerable, defenceless service user 13 months later, admitted it and was cautioned by Police. His response as Director of Social Care has been totally inadequate and I question his role as Director. There are also others too whose roles I question.
Over to you Cllr Jane Tremlett or be it on your head if we fail another vulnerable person.
What does it take to make a council acountable for its mistakes? This is not the first time that a situation has been mismanaged and somehow I fear it will not be the last. And how many other cases never were made public?
Surely it's time for the Welsh Government to step in?
UPDATE by Arthur Golden - published decision shows the GMC tribunal decided not to impose a warning.
As a retired lawyer who is very familiar with Facilitated Communication ("FC"), I question whether psychiatrist Dr. Rowan Wilson actually was involved in using Facilitated Communication ("FC"). As the GMC found "Dr Wilson had no prior experience and/or informed knowledge of FC." Dr. Wilson seems to have negligently relied on the claims of the carer staff, who claimed to be using FC, even though they were completely untrained and unsupervised. This case seems to me to one of negligence by Dr. Wilson and should not be stated to have anything to do with actual Facilitated Communication.
I realize the decision states "her parents have for some years used a technique known as Facilitated Communication" (FC) but then gives an incorrect definition of FC. The decision also states that "In January 2011, CB was re-assessed by Professor A, an expert in Autistic Spectrum Disorders with experience in FC." Elsewhere on the internet, Pofessor A is idenitified as Patricia Howlin, a publicly known opponent of FC who has never been successful in the proper use of FC. I do not see where any professional who had knowledge in the proper use of FC was involved, including in the GMC hearing.
What is definition of FC ?
Where can training be obtained and what is “qualification” outcome ?
We are given to understand that the parents used (“FC”) as the only means by which their daughter would communicate, PECS and signing etc not being successful, furthermore they find that for day to day usage of communication of their daughters ability to make her wishes known.
Therefore there is heightened interest in Arthur Golden and any further information would be useful in regards of the professional use of (“FC”).
Thank you for your thoughtful comment in reply to my comment. I will be away from my computer for the next 1-1/2 days but your comment deserves a serious reply and I will try to do so within a couple of days.
I will be very interested to read this response and I am sure others will be too.
My apologies for the delay in posting further comments. Please give me a couple more days.
Arthur Golden
Sorry for the long delay in getting back. I have decided to ask the FC professionals in the UK to follow up, so I am not going to post any further substantive information on FC.
Arthur Golden
UK guidelines and practice standards for FCT are available at http://www.candleaac.com/a_brief_guide_to_fct.htm
best wishes
Marion Stanton
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