IMC doctor decision upheld by High Court

A decision by the Irish Medical Council (IMC) to censure a doctor at Cavan General Hospital and attach conditions to a period of his future practice have been upheld by the High Court.

Justice Deirdre Murphy said on Monday last, August 21, that she saw no good reason not to confirm the decision of the Council against consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Salah Aziz Ahmed, and did so in accordance with law.

However, she vacated an order regarding Mr Aziz’s earlier undertaking in 2014 that he not practice obstetrics or undertake surgery pending an outcome of inquiries by the IMC's Fitness to Practice Committee.

Conditions attached to Dr Aziz's future practice include that he attend courses on CTG interpretation which concerns foetal heartbeat recording, as well as emergency delivery by C-section.

It also requires Dr Aziz to nominate a doctor under whose supervision he would return to work.

Mr Aziz was the subject of an inquiry by the Fitness to Practice Committee of the Medical Council which earlier this year found him not guilty of professional misconduct or poor professional performance on six out of seven allegations.

The inquiry examined the care Dr Aziz provided to three women, one whose baby died in-utero, one whose baby died two days after his birth and one whose baby was born in very poor condition.

Dr Aziz failed to decide that the delivery by emergency caesarian section of a baby - the son of a woman referred to as Patient C in the hearing - was required, the IMC ruled back in June.

Patient C, who had a very poor obstetric history, gave birth to a baby boy by emergency caesarian section on April 26, 2014.He was born with no signs of life, and did not respond to resuscitation.

It was later discovered Patient C had suffered from her third placental abruption.

Referring to the failure to decide that immediate surgery was required, Mary Duff, chair of the inquiry committee, said it was satisfied this was a serious failure to meet the standards of competence that can be reasonably expected.

It heard that Patient A gave birth to a baby boy by emergency caesarean section on November 22, 2012, but he died two days later.

The second patient, Deirdre Clarke - who waived her right to anonymity - also gave birth to a baby boy by emergency section, on June 5, 2013, after her uterus ruptured.

Her baby was born in very poor condition, although he made an eventual recovery.

On May 18, the inquiry committee found seven out of the 14 allegations against Dr Aziz in relation to these mothers to be proven as fact.

Mr J.P. McDowell, solicitor acting for the IMC, told Judge Murphy, in the case of Patient C: "The Council decided that the practitioner should be admonished in relation to his performance and that certain conditions should be attached to the retention of his name on the medical register."With no appeal to the Council’s decision he sought confirmation of the order.

Judge Murphy also noted the IMC was not making any application for legal costs in the matter.