‘Baby P’ doctor who worked in Ireland guilty of misconduct

A paediatrician who was involved in the ‘Baby P’ case in the UK, who applied for work in an Irish hospital but did not disclose restrictions on doing so, has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

A Medical Council fitness-to-practise committee found that Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat failed to disclose that strict conditions were attached to her continued practice by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK when she applied for a post in Tallaght Hospital in 2008.

She was required to notify the GMC if she applied for any job outside the UK and to notify any prospective employer of the conditions and restrictions on her practice.

The conditions attached by the UK medical council arose from her examination of a 17-month-old-child in the UK in 2007, in what is known as the ‘Baby P’ case.

Dr Al-Zayyat was accused in the UK of failing to notice a toddler Peter Connelly’s broken back and fractured ribs during an examination.

The child, known as Baby P, died at his home in London two days later. The doctor was voluntarily removed from the medical register by GMC.

The child died after months of abuse and Baby P’s mother, her partner and her partner’s brother were jailed in 2008 for causing his death.

Dr Al-Zayyat of Brookfield, Mullingar, Co Westmeath and an address in Essex in Britain did not attend the hearing. Barrister Ronan Kennedy told the inquiry the Medical Council has been unable to contact Dr Al-Zayyat, despite extensive efforts to contact her in the UK and Ireland.

Mr Kennedy, for the medical council, told the inquiry that Dr Al-Zayyat was registered in Ireland with the Medical Council in July 2002 and worked in Ireland up to 2006.

Between 2007-2008, she worked at St Anne’s Hospital in London.

In November 2008, she applied to Tallaght Hospital for a post as a part-time locum consultant paediatrician with a special interest in community child health.

The inquiry heard she applied online for the role and sent copies of her CV but did not state on her application about the conditions attached to her registration.

In a statement, Tallaght Hospital said Dr Al-Zayyat had worked there, through an agency, on a number of occasions between 2002 and 2006.

It said all appropriate due diligence was undertaken as is standard practice for the use of agency staff and no issues have been raised regarding the care she provided while working in Tallaght Hospital.

It said she applied for a post in 2008 but disqualifying information relating to the conditions of her registration in the UK was identified as part of the hospital’s “robust vetting procedures.”