British Medics Donate over £200,000 to Help Nigerian Doctor Appeal Manslaughter Conviction

Lekan Fatodu

It is quite uncommon to see a group of people standing up stoutly for someone convicted of a criminal offence, but that’s exactly what some British medical practitioners are doing.

The practitioners, coming from diverse areas of the profession, are saying that the case of UK-based Nigerian doctor, Dr. Hadiza Bawa-Garba, is an exception.

So they are going all out for her including providing financial support to enable Hadiza appeal her criminal conviction and the decision of the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) to strike her name out of the medical register.

Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence in 2015 over the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock.

Subsequently, the GMC, who had previously placed her on a 12-month suspension after the ruling, later struck her out of the medical register, which means she cannot practise medicine in the UK anymore.

However, citing lack of fairness in the matter and claiming that Hadiza is being used as a scapegoat for a mistake which has its root in the operation of the UK’s medical services and its attendant pressure, some of her colleagues across the country have launched a crowdfunding campaign which has attracted over £200,000. The fund was set up to help Hadiza cover the huge expenses she would need to incur to effectively fight her case.

In her reaction to the support, Hadiza stated that she was “overwhelmed with gratitude” and that she plans to employ a top legal team to reassess the GMC’s decision and also the criminal conviction.

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