Inquest starts into out-of-hours care death (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Inquest starts into out-of-hours care death

9:26am Thursday 14th January 2010

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THE inquest begins today into the death of a Blakedown GP’s father treated by a German doctor giving out-of-hours care.

Stuart Gray’s father, David, 70, died from an overdose of the painkiller Diamorphine after being seen by German Dr Daniel Ubani.

Dr Ubani, 66, was on his first shift in the UK having arrived the day before to work for Take Care Now, which has provided out-of-hours GP services for Worcestershire Primary Care Trust since October 2008.

The inquest, which starts today, will take place in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire and is expected to last for 10 days.

Ahead of the inquest, Mr Gray said: “I feel we have been constantly hitting barriers in our fight to get heard and attempt to get changes made to the present system to make the out-of-hours service safer.”

An inquiry into TCN was launched by watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), in June, saying it would “rigorously identify where things went wrong” leading to David Gray’s death.

The CQC’s interim report said NHS Primary Care Trusts might not be effectively monitoring performance of GP out-of-hours services and risked failing to spot patient safety concerns as a result.

Inez Brown, of Anthony Collins Solicitors, added: “This case has unearthed concerning aspects about the use of overseas doctors to deliver out-of-hours medical care in the UK.

“Of particular concern is the process for vetting the doctors beforehand, their level of training in comparison to the NHS, and the information and training given to ensure the safe use of medicines and controlled drugs like diamorphine.”

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