'Inexperienced' doctor and St John's Ambulance volunteer 'risked patient's life with cocktail of drugs' tribunal told

An "inexperienced" doctor put a fellow medic's life at risk by repeatedly giving her a "cocktail of drugs" to ease her back pain, a tribunal was told.
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Daniel Haigh gave the woman a dosage which "exceeded the recommended maximum" level on four separate occasions over a 14 month period, papers from the case revealed.

The patient, who'd been in "severe" pain before the drugs were administered, was admitted to an intensive care unit following the fourth and final instance in August 2018, the papers said.

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The allegations, all of which Haigh admitted and expressed "genuine remorse" for, took place while he was working as a volunteer for the St John's Ambulance Service.

Haigh administered the drugs on four occasions when the patient was suffering from severe back pain.Haigh administered the drugs on four occasions when the patient was suffering from severe back pain.
Haigh administered the drugs on four occasions when the patient was suffering from severe back pain.

At the time he was employed at the Calder and Huddersfield NHS trust in West Yorkshire.

A medical practitioner's tribunal, which also criticised Haigh for not taking the patient to hospital, found the allegations amounted to misconduct.

The hearing was told that in May 2017 Haigh gave the woman, who was also a doctor and referred to as 'Patient A' during the case, a "quantity of controlled drugs", including ketamine and diazepam.

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The patient had recently undergone surgery and the pair were travelling together from Lincolnshire to Berkshire, with Haigh working as a medical escort for St John's on the journey.

The tribunal, which was held last month, heard that the doses of each drug were above what was medically recommended and that Haigh was not an "anaesthetic specialist".

Haigh administered drugs to the patient again on the return journey two days later and on two further occasions in January and August 2018.

An investigation began in 2019, following which Haigh resigned from his position at the NHS trust.

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However, he later took up a new role at the neighbouring Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs sites in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury.

General Medical Council (GMC) representative Ciaran Rankin told the tribunal that "Dr Haigh had inappropriately administered a 'cocktail of drugs' in the wrong doses on four separate occasions".

He added that "It is difficult to imagine a more serious series of events, than repeatedly risking the life of a patient through poor clinical care."

Haigh told the tribunal that he deeply regretted his actions, insisting that his "foremost intention was only to manage the significant pain" of the patient and "was not to cause any risk of harm".

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The hearing concluded that the events "demonstrated an inexperienced doctor struggling to find a way to manage Patient A’s pain" and that he'd acted "inappropriately".

But the tribunal rejected the GMC's suggestion that Haigh be struck off the medical register.

Instead they imposed a series of conditions he will have to comply with over the next two years, including informing the GMC of any new job he takes.

He will also be unable to volunteer for the St John's Ambulance Service during that time.

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The medical director of the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, David Birkenhead said: "The trust investigated the concerns relating to Dr Haigh and made the regulator aware of them.

"We are pleased that the tribunal has concluded and note the findings, which are now a matter for Dr Haigh and his current employer."

A St John Ambulance spokesperson said: "We are committed to working safely as we serve our communities and to keeping the public safe from harm; we expect any doctor to act professionally and with integrity within their volunteering role.

"Dr Haigh’s actions fell far below the standards of conduct we’d expect and are certainly not in line with the values of the charity.

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"We take any allegation of malpractice very seriously and encourage all St John people to raise any concerns they may have so appropriate action can be taken."

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust was contacted for comment.

Local Democracy Reporting Service