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BBC NEWS J England L Hampshire I Big drug doses ’matter of course’ Page 1 of 3 BBC NEWS I England I Hampshire I Big drug doses ’matter of course’ Page 2 of 3

and kidney problems - was given doses of diamorphine and Midazolam ~lL t..ow grap!~ics I He;p despite there being no record of her suffering pain, and then a tranquiliser.

No prosecutions

Mr Kark added the "regime of opiate medication had every appearance of being given to keep the patient quiet".

He later read to the panel a written statement from the daughter of lill~l’~ll BBC NEWS CHANNEL another patient, Leslie Pittock,

Lynda Wiles, then a registered mental health nurse, said she felt her

News Front Page Page last updated at 17:41 GMT, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 18:41 UK father had received good care at the hospital and realised he would not recover when he was sent there. World m E-mail this to a friend i~1 Printable version UK Big drug doses ’matter of course’ Mr Pittock, who served in the Navy for 22 years, had suffered from England depression throughout his life and had lost the will to live by the end, Patients were given large Northern Ireland she said. dosages of drugs "as a matter Scotland of course", a General Medical Dr Michael Brigg, who has been a GP with Dr Barton in Gosport since Wales Council panel heard. 1993, told the panel he "never had any doubt" she was committed to Business her patients’ best interests. Dr Jane Barton is accused of Politics serious professional misconduct in He said he was happy with Dr Barton’s habit of writing prescriptions Health treating 12 patients at with wide close ranges to allow nursing staff to alter medication in a Education Hampshire’s Gosport War Memorial doctor’s absence. Science & Environment Hospital in the 1990s, On Monday, Dr Barton admitted that her prescriptions left 11 patients Technology The patients died at the hospital The hearing follows an inquest into at risk of being given drugs excessive to their needs. between 1996 and 1999 Entertainment 10 patients’ deaths which found ...... All of the matters being dealt with at the hearing happened between Also in the news drugs to be a factor in five cases. Fears of ’culture of euthanasia’ January 1996 and November 1999. Unlawful killing claim sparked probe The GMC panel was told an elderly Video and Audio Dr Barton, who left the hospital in 2000 but still practises as a GP in patient of Dr Barton’s was dosed up with opiates to "keep [her] quiet". Gosport, has been under certain conditions since July 2008. Have Your Say Tom Kark, representing the GMC, said: "The prescription of very large Magazine S he is is banned from prescribing diamorphine while she is under doses of opiates appears to have become a matter of course at the In Pictures investigation, the GMC said. GWMH for the patients under Dr Barton’s care. I Country Profiles Police carried out investigations into the treatment of 92 patients at "Dr Barton’s prescription of drugs like diamorphine was dangerous, Special Reports the hospital, although no prosecutions were brought. inappropriate and left too much to the nurses’ discretion." Related BBC sites The patients’ families have called for a criminal investigation. Cocktail of painkillers Sport The hearing is expected to last 11 weeks. Weather In April, a jury inquest at Portsmouth Coroner’s Court decided that m Radio 2 Newsbeat the cases of GWMH patients Robert Wilson, 74, Geoffrey Packman, 66, CBBC Newsround and Elsie Devine, 88, the use of painkillers had been inappropriate for On Tills Day their condition. Editors’ BIog Bookmark with: What are these? Arthur Cunningham, 79, and Elsie Lavender, 83, were prescribed medication appropriate for their condition but in doses which Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon contributed to their deaths, jurors found. m E-mail this to a friend ~ Printable version A narrative verdict was recorded. FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS On Tuesday, the GMC panel heard relatives describe Mr Wilson, who had been given "much stronger oral doses of morphine", being left in an "almost paralysed state" by a cocktail of painkillers and sedatives.

Another patient Mrs Devine - admitted to the hospital with confusion

http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/england/hampshire/8091239.stm 29/06/2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8091239.stm 29/06/2009