Former Bantry General Hospital radiologist defends his fitness to practice

A former radiologist at Bantry General Hospital yesterday defended himself under cross-examination at a medical inquiry.

Dawar Siddiqi, who worked as a locum consultant radiologist at Bantry between May and September 2013, yesterday defended his reports on a number of CT scans that have been called into question by expert witness Peter Ellis, a consultant radiologist based in Belfast.

These cases include patients who were facing a number of serious issues, including a potential brain tumour, and the serious threat of cancer in the lymph nodes.

Under cross-examination yesterday, JP McDowell, counsel for the Medical Council, questioned Dr Siddiqi regarding a number of cases that Dr Ellis raised concerns over.

Mr McDowell said that, in one case, Dr Ellis said there was evidence of a spread of a tumour through various lymph nodes, and that Dr Siddiqi did not reference this in his CT report.

When Mr McDowell asked Dr Siddiqi, who denies the allegation against him, why he did not refer to this spread, the radiologist claimed that the lymph nodes were not large according to CT criteria.

In another case, Dr Ellis said that Dr Siddiqi reported that a young adult patient had had a brain haemorrhage. In contrast, Dr Ellis claimed that the patient was suffering from an aggressive brain tumour.

Dr Siddiqi argued that the patient was young, so one would not automatically think of something “as sinister” as a brain tumour. He added that the CT scan was an initial investigation, and so he wanted to conduct further investigations before he reported on something as serious as a brain tumour.

Dr Siddiqi added that, after a discussion with his colleague, the patient went “straight away” for an MRI.

During the cross-examination, Dr Siddiqi raised the possibility that he had not authored all of the reports under question, as he claimed that not all of them had been verified.

Mr McDowell asked Dr Siddiqi whether, when looking back at all the cases, he had concerns about his own competence.

“During that time [at Bantry], I felt that this is not the ideal place for doing such an important role,” Dr Siddiqi said.

He said he felt the circumstances and environment were such that issues would inevitably arise.

Mr McDowell again questioned Dr Siddiqi regarding his views on his competence.

“I think I did the best job I think anyone else could do.”

However, he said: “I would not go to a single-handed post [again]”, such as the one in Bantry. Dr Siddiqi yesterday again questioned Dr Ellis’s independence and suitability as an expert witness.

Dr Siddiqi faces an allegation of poor professional performance. Specifically, it is alleged he made serious errors in one or more of some 20 cases Dr Ellis identified. .

The inquiry is expected to conclude today.