Inquiry into alleged CT scan errors by radiologist at Bantry General Hospital

An inquiry into a consultant radiologist who allegedly made serious errors in a number of CT scan reports while working at Bantry General Hospital has opened at the Medical Council’s headquarters in Dublin.

Dr Dawar Siddiqi, who worked as a locum consultant radiologist at Bantry General Hospital between May and September 2013, faces an allegation of poor professional performance.

Specifically, it is alleged that Dr Saddiqi made serious errors in one or more of some 22 cases identified by an expert, and that his rate of error regarding these was unacceptably high.

Expert witness Dr Peter Ellis, who reviewed 62 CT scan reports by Dr Saddiqi for the Medical Council, told the inquiry yesterday that he was concerned about 22 of these reports. These included scans for a patient with a history of prostate cancer and another with a history of Hodgkin’s disease.

The fitness to practise inquiry heard Dr Saddiqi, with an address in Cork, received his general medical qualification in Pakistan in 1979. He worked in Limerick in the early 1990s. He later worked briefly in London and then in Saudi Arabia between 1996 and 2013.

He then worked for a very brief period in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, before being hired as a locum consultant radiologist at Bantry General Hospital, which is now under the remit of Cork University Hospital.

Dr Saddiqi was hired for the period between May and November 2013. However, because of concerns from the hospital, he ceased working at Bantry in September 2013.

JP McDowell, legal counsel for the CEO of the Medical Council, said Bantry’s long-term radiologist left in 2013, and various locums filled the position throughout that year. It was in this context that Dr Saddiqi was hired. The hospital made a complaint about Dr Saddiqi to the Medical Council in October 2014.

The council’s Preliminary Proceedings Committee then requested Dr Peter Ellis, a consultant radiologist from Belfast, to review 62 CT scans reported on by Dr Saddiqi. On foot of this review, the committee put the matter forward to the fitness to practise committee in July 2015.

Dr Saddiqi, who denies the allegations against him, defended himself before the inquiry yesterday, and painted a picture of a busy, chaotic work environment.

He said that during his time at Bantry General Hospital, he had major concerns regarding the work environment and conditions.

Dr Saddiqi, who is representing himself, said the radiology department was essentially in a corridor, and that the facilities were “busy” and “primitive”.

He also said the radiology department was, at this time, switching over to a digital imaging system, entitled PACs, and that this increased his workload. “The transition to PACs was a huge upheaval,” Dr Saddiqi said.

The doctor said he has since been unable to secure new employment because of the “disinformation” about him perpetuated by Bantry General Hospital.

“I’ve been languishing and suffering due to this complaint,” Dr Saddiqi said.

During his evidence to the inquiry, Dr Peter Ellis, who recently joined the Blackrock Clinic after years in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, concurred that Dr Saddiqi’s workload was “quite heavy”. He pointed out that, of the 62 CT scan reports of Dr Saddiqi’s that he reviewed, he agreed with Dr Saddiqi’s findings in 40 of the CT scans.

However, Dr Ellis expressed concern about Dr Saddiqi’s reports regarding 22 of the CT scans he reviewed.

These cases included a patient who had a history of prostate cancer and a patient who had been previously diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

Dr Ellis said that, for several of the cases, he would expect a junior doctor to pick up issues that Dr Saddiqi allegedly missed. In one case, Dr Ellis expressed concern that Dr Saddiqi seemingly missed indications of the spreading of a tumour into a patient’s lymphatic system, and that, in his opinion, this amounted to a serious error.

The inquiry is scheduled to run through Tuesday.