Robert Woodruff has been allowed to keep his medical licence despite recklessly getting behind the wheel to gatecrash a female colleague's barbecue while off duty, killing Richard Goodwin, 56.
He'd had ten pints. Oh, and he was a paramedic...
Veteran NHS paramedic Woodruff had been looking at his phone when he veered across the wrong side of the road and slammed into the father-of-five, in a 'catastrophic' collision.
/facepalm
Last year Woodruff, of Withernsea, East Yorkshire - who was then 36, was jailed for five years and four months, with a judge slamming him for causing 'unimaginable grief' to Mr Goodwin's family. But now, at a Health and Care Professions Tribunal, a panel has allowed him to keep his licence - suspending him for 12 months rather than striking him off, meaning Woodruff could return as a medic after serving his prison sentence.
Although admitted he never wanted to return as a frontline paramedic, Woodruff does hope to take on a 'health and safety role in the offshore industry', when released from jail.
Who'd employ him?
The HCPTS panel said it is not their job to 'punish' and that before the incident he 'dedicated his life to saving lives and not to wrecking them'.Before the incidents, Fred West laid a pretty good patio, I hear...
A tribunal report said: 'He said the criminal charge was not a true reflection of who he is as a person and as a professional.'
I thought the medical profession was good with latin. Haven't they heard the phrase In Vino Veritas...?
* As my mother is currently (at the time of drafting this) in the not-so-tender clutches of the NHS, there may be another post with this title coming up in the near future.
As the Romans also said, "Falsus in unum, falsus in omnia".
ReplyDeleteWith that conviction, he's unlikely to be able to get a job in an NHS ambulance service - a drink/driving conviction used to be a permanent bar to front line driving.
ReplyDeleteQuite how he will manage his CPD (continuous professional development) whilst imprisoned, or evidence the same would be an interesting question - as failure can lead to removal of paramedic status
So, you can kill someone in this country, and he out of prison in a little over two and a half years, what with the sentence being halved for "good behaviour" as soon as the prison van goes through the gates, and then go back to your job as if nothing happened. Will he have learned his lesson, or will he get behind the wheel of an ambulance, and carry on? He should have been sentenced for at least 10 years, even if the judiciary are told not to send Anyone to prison, and then be banned from driving for life.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts go to the family of the victim, and hope they take this obnoxious toerag for everything he has, and more.
Penseivat
I agree the sentencing should have been different but that is a different issue.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are saying here is that as well as punishment by the state he can never be gainfully employed again unless it is in a menial job. That isn't right. If he meets the criteria for going back to this role then he should be allowed to. He has been sentenced by the state and there should be no further action besides what people think. Some employers don't take people with certain offenses. That is up to them but it shouldn't be compulsory or we would create a criminal class with nothing to lose.
Oh dear!
ReplyDelete" If he meets the criteria for going back to this role then he should be allowed to." Hypocritical much (although the mental gymnastics involved 'are' impressive)?
There is a specific criteria that, should he had been previously convicted of being a drunk driver (who killed someone, let's forget), he would have been automatically barred from ever being employed in such a position. So why in the world 'shouldn't' doing so post employment have the same condition?
Professional bodies have, as their de facto rationale, the role of enforcing 'standards'. If those standards are only enforced against anyone 'not' already a member, they become the corrupt farce we witness daily today.
"As the Romans also said, "Falsus in unum, falsus in omnia"."
ReplyDeleteWho knows any Latin any more? Probably not half of the medical staff!
"With that conviction, he's unlikely to be able to get a job in an NHS ambulance service..."
'Unlikely' doesn't sound certain enough to me, frankly.
"My thoughts go to the family of the victim, and hope they take this obnoxious toerag for everything he has, and more."
Most people don't have the heart for this. And the criminals often know it.
"Some employers don't take people with certain offenses. That is up to them but it shouldn't be compulsory or we would create a criminal class with nothing to lose."
We already have that, don't we?
"Professional bodies have, as their de facto rationale, the role of enforcing 'standards'. If those standards are only enforced against anyone 'not' already a member, they become the corrupt farce we witness daily today."
Spot on!