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Dying to Get Away - The Tale of the Rogue Gynaecologist Surgeons have often controlled the world. Well, that is how some of them feel anyway. In reality, there are good and bad surgeons the world over. The UK introduced the world to some of the most interesting doctors that have fascinated the public. From Harold Shipman to Richard Neale, these doctors have been the subject of coffee table gossip. Rodney Ledward joins his colleagues for the vote in bringing the profession into disrepute. Could Rodney Ledward still be alive? Our freelancer was sent on the trail of the " fastest gynaecologist in the south".
These were: In October 1998, Ledward was found guilty of removing the ovaries of a 54-year-old magistrate from Kent, in 1992, without her permission, and leaving her with serious bleeding and a damaged bladder. Five weeks before, he had said that her ovaries were healthy. He was also found to have written a misleading account to her GP. The GMC found him guilty of serious professional misconduct, and struck his name from the register. A broader inquiry into his methods criticized him for arrogance, lack of compassion, and the "intimidating and frightening" manner of the man former patients had started to call 'The Butcher', because of his abysmal record, and worse was to follow. Mr. Ledward did not accept any of the criticisms and, to the astonishment of colleagues, fled to Ireland claiming the NHS had lost a first rate surgeon. Six men have since claimed their wives died after being treated by him, and Kent police were continuing to investigate dozens of allegations of criminal assault relating to former patients. There were even claims that he worked as a pharmacist there. Several hundred women have since come forward with complaints about their treatment at his hands, and at least 200 are suing for compensation. These actions are likely to cost the NHS well in excess if £1m, for women who claim he left them physically and mentally scarred, when he unnecessarily removed healthy wombs and bungled routine operations, leaving them with bladder, kidney and liver damage. In one of the most critical reports published into a doctor's work, the year-long inquiry, which was chaired by Jean Ritchie QC, blamed senior managers at the William Harvey hospital and the then local health authority, south-east Kent, for failing to investigate concerns raised by staff and patients in time to prevent more damage, but that was hardly the end of this awful story. This thoroughly disgraced gynecologist may just have faked his own death, to escape accusations of sexual assaults on female patients. At age 62, officially, he died in October 2000 in a hospital in County Cork in the Irish Republic, with inoperable pancreatic cancer. He was recorded as being buried in a cemetery close to his adopted home in the village of Drumahane. At the time, he was being investigated, over accusations of sexual assaults, on women at various hospitals, and in 2002, 42 women launched a group action, alleging rape and sexual assault. Richard Vosper, of Jane Loveday solicitors, is representing the women, who are seeking compensation from the former East Kent health authority.. In all, 36 claim he raped them and six say he subjected them to serious sexual assaults. Mr Vosper said the alleged incidents happened at William Harvey hospital in Ashford, Royal Victoria hospital in Folkestone, Buckland hospital in Dover, and Deal hospital between 1980 and 1996 when he was suspended. "We have got serious allegations dating back from the date he started, stretching to almost the day he left," said Mr Vosper. "Lots of people were not able to come forward when he was alive with the prospect of facing him in court." Today, it seems there are doubts over the legitimacy of his death certificate, which it appears may have been signed by a mortuary assistant, rather than a doctor. In 2002, police in Kent were contacted by people claiming to have seen Mr Ledward, near the William Harvey hospital in Ashford, Kent, which was his main practice, and sightings in Ireland and Spain, where he had a holiday home, were also reported. Helene Fletcher, a nurse who worked with Mr Ledward, said that she felt his death was "just too bizarre and too convenient" to be true. Though the Irish police are insistent that they believe Dr Ledward to really be dead, after consulting hospital staff who treated him, there is a growing skepticism about his death. This was a truly monstrous egotist, in the style of the notorious Harold Shipman, who was allowed to get away with his incompetent blundering for years. Ofcourse, one should turn to the pillars of justice eg the General Medical Council for guidance on why this man was allowed to continue for so many years. Some say there is a medical club culture, others say, whistleblowing against a surgeon is not the done thing. Even today, juniors and seniors would never report their consultants to the authorities - for fear of their careers and livelihoods. The bottom line, surely, for the NHS should be that patients' interests must be protected above all else, but how confident of that can people be, when a system of internal politics and discretionary silence prevent the rotten apples from being unmasked? There needs to be a fundamental change in the way that system works, if the NHS is ever to truly earn the confidence of those it is meant to serve. For many of us, dying to escape is just a metaphor for wanting badly to get away, but for Dr Ledward, it really was the most convenient option. If a doctor can't, with the help of colleagues, fake his own death convincingly, who can? RESOURCES Interview with Rodney Ledward Faked Death Investigations Launched into Faked Death The Inquiry GMC Responds to Ledward Inquiry Working in Ireland After being Struck off Disgraced Surgeon Denies Practicing as Pharmacist The Climate of Fear Butchers and Gropers - from the Student BMJ Surgeon Faces Inquiry
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Surgery
is a traumatic experience for anybody. The trauma increases
substantially when the patient discovers that the surgeon to whom they
had entrusted their body had made critical mistakes, and possibly left
them maimed for life. Women rely on gynaecological surgeons for many
'routine' procedures, but sometimes their faith may be misplaced.
Dr
Rodney Ledward was a prime example of just how much an incompetent
surgeon can get away with. He was able to severely damage hundreds of
women patients because of a hospital culture in which consultants were
treated as "gods" and junior staff seemed to be afraid of "telling
tales". This was what the official inquiry into his conduct was
told.
He
botched hundreds of operations, during 16 years at the William Harvey
hospital, in Ashford, Kent. It was claimed that he was protected by a
combination of "failures in senior NHS management", the "old
boys' network" and a "climate of fear and retribution"
which prevented colleagues from reporting their concerns about his
surgical skills.
This
was a consultant surgeon, with 33 years' medical "experience",
who had been working at the hospital since 1980, was suspended from
South Kent Hospitals NHS Trust in January 1996 after allegedly
puncturing a patient's bladder. He was incredibly arrogant about his
'skill' and had even dubbed himself "the fastest gynecologist in
the south of England" after he once performed seven
hysterectomies in less than four hours, to the horrified amazement of
colleagues.
An
internal inquiry was launched at the hospital, after the bladder
incident, which lasted for a full 11 months, as ever more clear
evidence of botched procedures began to come to light. It soon became
clear that was a case for the General Medical Council. In total 14
women were alleged to have suffered while in Dr Ledward's care, and he
was charged with 30 misdemeanors, falling into four broad categories
when the hearing opened in September 1998.