Kate Louise Pierce

Dear Mr Gittins Re: Investigation touching upon the death of Kate Pierce Thank you for your letter of 20 December 2013 enclosing your Report to Prevent Future Deaths: Iam responding as the officer responsible for the Council's fitness to practise work. We have carefully considered your report and in particular, the matters of concern set out in your report: We are aware of Dr and his involvement in Kate Pierce' care, as this matter was initially brought to our attention on 27 April 2012. We made preliminary enquiries of the Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board and subsequently received a formal complaint from Mr pn 12 July 2012. We considered the complaint by Mr) lin accordance with our statutory framework and initially decided to investigate the case although the events at that time were more than five years old:. Our statutory rules preclude us from investigating events that are more than five years old unless it is in the public interest in the exceptional circumstances to do SO. We were challenged by Dr] Jby way of Judicial Review about our decision to investigate the case even though the events were over five years old. Having taken advice from Counsel we decided to concede the Judicial Review and close our investigation With regard to Dr audit_we received and considered a copy of this audit in late
2012. It relates to Dr practice in 2007 and so was subject to the five year rule We considered whether to waive the rule and concluded that the concerns raised did not satisfy the criteria for uS to waive the rule and no further action was taken: In terms of Dr current fitness to practise, we have not received any further complaints about Dr since 2007 . Additionally, as part of the process of revalidation of a doctor's licence to practise, doctors must have a Responsible Officer whose statutory duties include reporting concerns to us, if they call into question a doctor's current fitness to practise: Our Employer Liaison Advisor who is a senior member The GMC is a charity registered in Regulating doctors England and Wales (1089278) and Scotland (SC037750) Ensuring good medical practice

of staff working in the region has met regularly with Dr Responsible Officer who has expressed no concerns about his current practice_ AIl registered doctors are also now required to revalidate their registration in order to keep their licence to practise. Once every five years, the doctor's Responsible Officer will make a recommendation to us as to whether a doctor should be revalidated and keep their licence to practise_ Revalidation is aimed at supporting doctors in maintaining high standards, and will also help in identifying any concerns early on so that suitable action can be taken_ I hope I have explained why no action by us in this case is proposed and more importantly I been able to address your concerns about Dr I would be happy to take your call on this if you feel it would assist;