Deputy Gavin St Pier has suggested any allegation that he has risked safeguarding in the island is false.
It has been claimed by both the Medical Specialist Group and the British Medical Association that his decision to originally name a doctor during a past States debate and his more recent decision to confirm information with a national newspaper journalist had disrupted and risked public trust in healthcare services and safeguarding.
Ahead of a States vote on whether to suspend Deputy St Pier for 25-days without pay, Dr Steve Evans said: “We sincerely hope this will finally bring an end to the long and unfair campaign waged against Dr Bohin – a campaign that has caused deep harm to her, to our paediatric service, to public trust in healthcare and safeguarding, and ultimately to Guernsey’s reputation.”
Dr Mat Dorrian, the BMA’s spokesperson in Guernsey, said: “Despite Deputy St Piers’ self-reported motivations his deliberatively vindictive actions have had the following consequences:
- The local medical profession is facing a reputational and potential recruitment crisis.
- The local children’s safeguarding services have been disrupted and there is no local named safe-guarding lead.
- Medical professionals in Guernsey have reported they are scared to speak out even when they know it is in patients’ best interests for fear of being attacked without the right of reply in Guernsey’s Government.”
Deputy St Pier refuted these claims during yesterday’s debate which ultimately saw him win the support of an overwhelming majority of his colleagues.
“It has been repeatedly alleged that my conduct has impacted safeguarding on the island,” he acknowledged.
“Firstly, let’s talk in facts. The Medical Director emailed me on 15 December 2021 to advise that there has ‘been a change in the Named Doctor at MSG’.
“In other words, the Complainant ceased in that role four months before I named her in the States in April 2022. On that timeline, I cannot be held responsible for the MSG’s failure to provide a Named Doctor for Safeguarding. Secondly, the MSG have a contractual obligation to provide a Named Doctor for Safeguarding – by failing to do so, they are in breach of their contract, which is, I know, of concern to the Committee for Health & Social Care.”
In response to a recent query by Express concerning the absence of a safeguarding lead in the island, Dermot Mullin, Director of Operations at HSC, sought to assure the public.
“We are in regular discussions with the MSG about the named safeguarding lead but can assure everyone that as part of their on-call responsibilities the paediatric team provide medical input if required to support multi-agency safeguarding responses,” he said.
Dr Mellissa McCullough resigned late last night from being Guernsey’s Independent Commissioner.