Incompetent over many years.

Dr Freddy Patel the pathologist has been struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council (GMC) for incompetence. His dereliction of responsibility and duty was known to the profession for a number of years, but still he was allowed to continue as a pathologist. Why? It seems to me that the medical profession is very slow in looking at colleagues who are considered - not up to the job. Remember Dr Harold Shipman who killed many of his elderly patients, before suspicions were raised, and he was eventually caught. There is also the issue of pathology being seen as a rather - Cinderella part of the medical profession. Who wants to be a pathologist? When I was a police cadet I did a placement with the - Coroners Office and attended post-mortems with the pathologist. It was a very grim business as you can imagine. Watching the cutting up of bodies that had been dead for some time - often many days or weeks. The smell was the worst thing about the whole process. The coroner used to smoke a pipe and we would have our heads - stuck in the smoke to protect our nostrils. So Dr Patel has gone, but the distress caused to the Ian Tomlinson family will continue.