PRESS RELEASE
A bereaved father whose son died of medical negligence in 1990 has been invited to London to meet Lords about the Duty of Candour [Robbie's Law] amendment for report stage of the Health & Social Care Bill. The meeting will be held in Committee Room 2 in the Houses of Parliament and starts at 2pm. The meeting is scheduled to finish at 3pm.
West Glamorgan Health Authority admitted negligence and liability for Robbie's death in May 1996 in an attempt to prevent the case being heard in the civil courts. However, the GPs from the Ystradgynlais Health Centre, who the Powells allege were also negligent and post death falsified the child's medical records, causing the Powells psychological damage, claimed in the UK civil courts that they did not owe the Powells a post death duty of care to be honest about the circumstances of Robbie's death. The UK Courts agreed, which included the High Court, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
The Powells took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, which clearly set out the perverse situation in law, which still exists to this day.
William and Anita POWELL v. the United Kingdom - Application no. 45305/99
4th May 2000
"Whilst it is arguable that doctors had a duty not to falsify medical records under the common law (Sir Donaldson MR's "duty of candour"), before Powell v Boladz there was no binding decision of the courts as to the existence of such a duty. As the law stands now, however, doctors have no duty to give parents of a child who died as a result of their negligence a truthful account of the circumstances of the death, nor even to refrain from deliberately falsifying records."
In response to the Court of Appeal judgment in July 1997 the British Medical Association stated [GP Magazine 11/7/97]:
"GPs could now put a gloss on the cause of death without fear of litigation."
Since then the Powells have tirelessly campaigned for a change in law, which is being called Robbie's Law, in memory of Robbie and because it was Robbie's case that first identified the absence of a Duty of Candour [as confirmed by the ECHR statement above], without which, the ongoing campaign for change would not be possible. The Powells also sacrificed a six-figure compensation payout in 1996 to expose this perverse situation to ensure that parents and relatives who have the misfortune of losing a loved one, to medical negligence, are at least told the truth about the circumstances of the death and doctors prevented by law from post death falsifying medical records.
Attached is a self-explanatory letter the Powells received from the Chairman of the Health Select Committee, Stephen Dorrell MP, in December 2011.
The Powells' fight for justice continues almost twenty-two years after Robbie's death as a consequence of the post death systemic cover up.
END
Will Powell
