PHL 3386 Dr Saibal Kumar Hazra v NHS England - "Removal from the Performers list"

Judgement Number3386
CourtFirst-tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber)
1
Primary Health Lists
The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social
Care) Rules 2008
[2018] 3386.PHL
IN THE MATTER OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (PERFORMERS LISTS)
(ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2013
Heard on 25 February, 1 July, 26 November, 27 November, 10 December and 12 December
2019 at The Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL
BEFORE
Judge Debra Shaw
Dr Howard Freeman (Professional Member)
Mr Michael Cann (Specialist Member)
BETWEEN:
Dr Saibal Kumar Hazra Applicant
-v-
The NHS Commissioning Board (known as NHS England “NHSE”)
Respondent
DECISION
The Appeal
1. This is an appeal by Dr Saibal Hazra (“the Appellant”) made pursuant to Regulation 17
of the National Health Service (Performers Lists) (England) Regulations 2013 (“the
2013 Regulations”) against a decision made by the Performers List Decision Panel on
05.06.18 (confirmed in a letter dated 11.06.18) to remove him from the NHS
Performers List pursuant to paragraph 14(3)(b) of the 2013 Regulations, that the
continued inclusion of his name on the Medical Performers List would be prejudicial
to the efficiency of the services that those included in that Performers List (PL) perform.
Attendance
2
2. The Appellant was unrepresented at the hearing. He gave oral evidence on his own
behalf, but he did not call any witnesses to give oral evidence.
3. The Respondent was represented by Mr Guy Micklewright of Counsel on 25.02.19, Mr
Peter Lownds of Counsel on 01.07.19, and Mr Gavin Irwin of Counsel on 26.11.19,
27.11.19, 10.12.19 and 12.12.19. The Respondent called Dr Kheelna Bavalia
(Associate Medical Director at NHSE and a practising GP) as a witness.
The Hearing
4. The hearing took place on 25.02.19, 01.07.19, 26.11.19, 27.11,19, 10.12.19 and
12.12.19 at The Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL.
Background and Chronology
5. In August 2016 the GMC informed NHSE that they had received a complaint from a
member of the public which raised concerns about Dr Hazra’s fitness to practise, as a
result of which the GMC conducted an investigation. The concerns related to the
management of a 16 month old child that subsequently died of sepsis. This became
the index case, which triggered a check by NHSE to ascertain if there had been any
other complaints against Dr Hazra.
6. NHSE’s records indicated that Dr Hazra had also been subject to 3 other complaints
as follows:
(i) in April 2016 NHSE received a complaint from a patient (“AP”) which
stated that Dr Hazra lacked empathy and had poor communication
skills
(ii) In June 2016 the GMC received a complaint from a patient (“RY”)
regarding the prescribing of an incorrect dose of medicine. As this
complaint did not meet the threshold for GMC investigation, the
matter was passed on to NHSE to review.
(iii) In August 2014 NHSE received a complaint from a patient (“RA”)
regarding the prescribing of an inappropriate medication in
pregnancy.
7. Given these complaints, and in light of a meeting between NHSE and Dr Hazra on
05.12.16, which gave rise to concerns around his clinical practice and insight, NHSE
commissioned a records review to evaluate his standard of care.
8. Dr Aneesha Noonan (an independent GP with no connection to Dr Hazra’s practice)
reviewed a random selection of 30 patient records from his practice for the period
between February 2016 and February 2017. This review raised concerns in relation
to Dr Hazra’s ability to provide clinical care to an acceptable standard, e.g. key
assessments were missing, there were issues in relation to treatment and
management of patients, his rationale for prescribing was not clear and, on occasion,
demonstrated potentially harmful prescribing, and there were no improvements
despite Dr Hazra having been informed of deficiencies in his record keeping following
the concerns raised to the GMC in relation to the index case in August 2016.
9. The reflections on this record review which Dr Hazra submitted to NHSE on
30.06.17 and 07.07.16 were not deemed adequate, leading to Dr Bavalia and
Graham Boullier (Head of Practitioner Performance and Revalidation at NHSE)
meeting with Dr Hazra on 07.09.17. Dr Hazra was supported by Julie Sharman (an
LMC representative). He was unable to demonstrate he understood the nature of the

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