Case dismissed against Faversham vet

Please note
This is an archived news story. Miss Margarida dos Santos Correia remained on the RCVS Register of Members until 20 March 2008, when she was removed voluntarily. She is therefore not currently entitled to practise as a veterinary surgeon in the UK. 

The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons last Thursday [24 May 2007] dismissed a case against a veterinary surgeon having found that her actions during the treatment of an injured horse did not amount to serious professional misconduct.

Dr Margarida dos Santos Correia MRCVS was attending a thoroughbred gelding called Prune that had a puncture wound on his hind leg, causing increasingly severe lameness, swelling and seepage.

The charge faced by Dr Correia was that, having identified that Prune was severely lame in his left hind leg and that it might be fractured, she caused Prune to be transported some 50 miles to a referral centre, without providing adequate physical support.

During the hearing the Committee heard that when Dr Correia first examined Prune, she had not ruled out a fracture, but decided that cellulitis from the puncture wound was more likely. It was alleged by lay witnesses that she did not examine the horse properly three days later and that, prior to transportation, she again failed to palpate the leg properly.

The Committee, however, preferred Dr Correia’s evidence that she examined the leg properly on all three occasions; further, it accepted that a lay witness could easily have mistaken stance-related distortion for displacement.

The Committee stated that it was sure there was neither a detectable limb fracture, nor visible distortion to show that a fracture had occurred; it noted the opinion of both expert witnesses that this was not unusual in a non-displaced unicortical fracture and that sometimes, even with the benefit of a radiograph, it could be an impossible fracture to detect. It agreed that Dr Correia’s diagnosis of cellulitis was consistent with the symptoms presented at the time.

Professor Derek Knottenbelt MRCVS, expert witness for the College, described the case as a very difficult one for Dr Correia – a “young and relatively inexperienced veterinary surgeon” – to face so early in her career. He stated that, “cellulitis is far and away more common than tibial fracture,” adding, “[Dr Correia] made a genuine error of judgment that she is unlikely to make again”.

The Committee heard that Dr Correia had spoken by telephone with a senior colleague who had agreed with her diagnosis, but had not talked her through the protocol for transporting a horse so injured. It found it a “matter of great regret” that this colleague did not see fit to examine Prune himself, before allowing him to be moved.

Both experts agreed that transportation in ‘Robert Jones’ bandages with splints applied by an inexperienced person such as Dr Correia possibly could result in more harm than good. Neither Dr Correia’s senior colleague, nor the equine referral clinic, had suggested to Dr Correia that she employ any such protective procedure.

Mrs Alison Bruce, chairing the Disciplinary Committee, said: ”We wholeheartedly concur with the expert witness for the Respondent, Professor Tim Greet FRCVS, when he concludes in his report that: ‘Under such circumstances, it is my opinion that Dr Correia’s actions could not, at any time, be construed as demonstrating seriously deficient professional care, nor was her conduct disgraceful in a professional respect.’ The case is dismissed.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Ian Holloway
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
020 7202 0727
[email protected]

Notes for Editors

1. The RCVS is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the UK and deals with issues of professional misconduct, maintaining the Register of veterinary surgeons eligible to practise in the UK and assuring standards of veterinary education.

2. RCVS disciplinary powers are exercised through the Preliminary Investigation and Disciplinary Committees, established in accordance with Schedule 2 to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (the 1966 Act). The RCVS has authority to deal with three types of case:

a) Fraudulent registration
b) Criminal convictions
c) Allegations of disgraceful professional conduct

3. The Disciplinary Committee is a constituted judicial tribunal under the 1966 Act and follows rules of evidence similar to those used in a court of law.

4. Further information, including the charge against Dr Correia and the Disciplinary Committee's findings, can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary.