John Day
AN internal investigation into the three-year suspension of consultant John Day has begun after an investigation into a patient’s death at the Hospital effectively exonerated him.
Health Minister Anne Pryke announced the review to States Members yesterday following the publication of the Verita report on Monday.
Mr Day – who has returned to work this morning – had been suspended from work since October 2006 on full pay, costing the Island around £1 million.
He did not face any disciplinary hearing and was not called to give evidence at the manslaughter trial of Dr Dolores Moyano, who carried out the operation leading to the patient’s death.
Article posted on 3rd February, 2010 - 2.59pm
19 Article Comments
How much is this review going to cost. Have they gone raving bonkers? It is so easy to waste other peoples’ money. Who will be the next health minister??
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An absolute disgrace that this shou;d have gone on for so long with Mr.Day effectively being thrown to the wolves to save the ex- Chief executive of H&SS and his team.I hope the review is undertaken promtly and lessons learnt from this absolute fiasco.
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I smell a rat here ,why has John Day obtained an injunction preventing the events of that fatefull day from being reviewed, if all is as it should be and above board .We the wages paying public have a right to know and do not want to be bamboozled by some legaleese trickery.
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It is about time an external investigation is held together with a review of the other complaints brought against John Day – yesterdays report shows it is time for a real shake up in the Health Service as well as other departments to get rid of the old boy network.
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Quick question! Is Mr Day returning to start work immediately OR will he be back in training for a period of time. Comparing his profession to that of a pilot for instance – if a Captain of a plane hasn’t flown within 28 days they must undergo a short retraining programme. IF they haven’t flown for lets says for 3 years they have to do pretty much most of their training again – followed by a series of stressful checks as to whether they are still competent again! Comparing the 2 professions where they are both in charge of peoples lives I would very much like to be reassured that Mr Day and others in his profession will undergo some sort of assessment!
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Just to refresh people’s memories.
The following was taken from the article:
Surgeons’s decision was called ‘mad’, court told (posted in the JEP 15th January 2009).
A CONSULTANT described leading gynaecologist John Day as ‘completely mad’ for leaving a ‘relatively inexperienced’ doctor alone in theatre.
It was also claimed that Mr Day had to be stopped from helping Dolores Moyano Ontiveros, who is accused of causing the death of a patient, from filling out her incident report.
Dr Moyano’s Advocate, Michael O’Connell, asked consultant obstetrician gynaecologist Neil MacLachlan if he had described John Day as ‘mad, completely mad’ for leaving Dr Moyano to perform a hysteroscopy on her own. Mr MacLachlan is said to have made the comment when he was in a room with Dr Moyano following his time in the operating theatre trying to save Mrs Rourke’s life.
Replying to Advocate O’Connell, he said: ‘I have no recollection of my exact words, but am not saying I did not use those words.’
And now, after costing the Jersey taxpayer £1 million (because he didn’t have the decency to resign in 2006), this man has been allowed back into the hospital…this affront is beyond the pale.
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I tried to email John Day on the States intranet yesterday and again today just to say how pleased I was to see that he’d been vindicated and welcome back, but guess what?
Despite Richard Jouault’s gushing press statement that: “I can say that we welcome John back to the hospital as a valued and much respected colleague.” his email account has been closed! He was never sacked, not even suspended according to Jouault so some welcome John. Says it all really words words and more words each one completely meaningless.
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The Verita report has vindicated John Day from blame and from the malicious accusations made against him at the manslaughter trial of the consultant who performed the routine operation that went so terribly wrong.
The Verita report has also severely criticised senior managers at Health for management failings that contributed to the avoidable death of a patient undergoing this routine operation.
The very same managers that were responsible for these failings are also the managers who were responsible for the 3 year suspensions of Mr Day.
Some serious questions remain unanswered.
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#6 Born Warrior
Thank you for refreshing our memory about Neil MacLachlan’s outrageous and unprofessional comments about a colleague but I think you have completely missed the point.
After the vindication in the Vertia report, and the FACT that Moyano was NOT a junior doctor, as can be checked both on her GMC registration and set out in great detail by Verita surely it is MacLachlan not Mr Day who should be resigning. Some people just cant seem to accept the truth even when it has been thoroughly exposed by an independent inquiry.
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Anne Pryke “We must move on from disciplinary and what happened” further proof that this woman is way ouut of her depth,the cowardly and secretive approach typifies what is wrong with this broken government that stagers and lurches from one lash up into the next all ar vast public expense and what do we get,”Let’s sweep it under the carpet” Esther Rantzen was quick to spot the sick culture of fear ,intimidation and ignorance that has developed here,the world and his dog know about the cover ups,the back handers and the incestuous judiciary that backs the whole illness that has become the people we are supposed to trust,,well for me it’s long been over ,we do not have true democracy or representation,democracy starts from the bottom up Not the top down.reform or face tyranny.
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“We must move on from disciplinary and what happened”
So the defence is now that as this happened a few years ago there will be no prosecutions then?
I think that we all know the German Nuremberg Defence stance after WW2. Perhaps we can call this the “Jersey Defence”
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Impatient 8.
Consultant surgeons should assure themselves at all times of the competence of those to whom they delegate (Locum surgeons included) and must accept overall responsibility for any duties that are delegated to other doctors…as I said, this affront is beyond the pale!
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From what I recall,Mr.Joualt and his team were found to have blatantly lied and used poor governance practices when the internal investigation started.If it wasn’t for the Verita report, the truth would never have come out and Mr.Day would still have been suspended.Deputy Pryke needs to get a grip before the staff of H and SS lose any more faith in the Senior team.
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Born warrior you are clearly not a medical professional and therefore do not understand the individual professional accountability that each doctor is required to demonstrate. I suggest you read the GMC standards of professional practice.
Just to reiterate, Dr Moyano was a consultant grade doctor, the same grade as Mr Day. If she thought that she did not have the necessary competence to carry out any procedure she was asked to undertake, SHE had a duty to state this and request assistance. Mr Day had no reason to doubt Dr Moyano’s competence a FACT evidenced in the Verita report which I suggest you read in full.
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impatient 13.
You are quite right, I am not a medical professional and, judging by your comments, neither are you.
However, a medical professional described Mr Day as ‘completely mad’ for leaving a ‘relatively inexperienced’ doctor alone in theatre (comment made following his time in the operating theatre trying to save the patient’s life). Now, why on earth was that?
Furthermore, if Dr Moyano is a consultant grade doctor, the same grade as Mr Day, then, are we to assume that Mr Day is a ‘relatively inexperienced’ doctor?
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I have been shocked at the comments here, particularly from “Born Warrior” whoever he or she is. Hiding behind a nom de plume, especially one which hints at a particularly nasty nature, is the height of cowardice.
Mr Day saved the life of my wife and countless others over many years of service to the Jersey community. To suggest that he is inexperienced, or worse, incompetent, is a totally unwarranted slur on the skills and abilities of a professional of the highest calibre.
Your desire for anonymity removes any right you have to express such an opinion.
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Howard Goldstein 16.
I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you before, but my keyboard was wet with tears…being called a “coward” is so so upsetting (actually, I just don’t want my name splashed all over the Net, but that’s another story).
Nevertheless, whatever I am, I can read.
I did not suggest for one moment that Mr Day is inexperienced, or worse, incompetent, I ASKED (re: Impatient’s post 44.) the following question:
“If Dr Moyano is a consultant grade doctor, the same grade as Mr Day, then, are we to assume that Mr Day is a ‘relatively inexperienced’ doctor?”
Since when has a ‘question’ been an insinuation?
However, seeing as you are so protective of this gentleman, you might care to tell me why he didn’t read Dr Moyano’s CV completely (see Verita report) when, according to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, it is the responsibility of Consultant surgeons to assure themselves at all times of the competence of those to whom they delegate (Locum surgeons included).
P.S. I hope my ‘diluted’ nom de plume is more to your taste.
As for your final quip, well, that leaves me where it found me…”free to speak out!”
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I’d just like to congratulate the JEP on the excellent interview with Mr Day in Saturday’s paper. Unfortunately it is not online hence my comment here.
Mr Day comes across as an intelligent man who shows great humility and integrity, despite the vilification of the last three years.
It’s time that the Jersey authorities acknowledge and appreciate this and let him return to do what he does best, providing first class surgery to the women of this island.
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Misconduct 18.
The main reason I chose my moniker ‘Born Warrior’ was because the war instinct is the most deeply ingrained in man, fortunately, the species that cursed us with Adolf Hitler also blessed us with Mahatma Gandhi, so there is still hope that goodness will prevail.
I also chose it because it expresses my belief that the common good must be defended against the individual interests of those in command.
Thus, I consider the actions of Mr Day (on the occasion in question) to be those of a man who was not concerned with the common good, but to be those of a man who put his individual interests above his duty.
I realise that even a good man can make a mistake, but it takes a great and honest man to admit it.
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