Doctors have warned they may be less likely to admit mistakes after a pediatrician was controversially struck off for causing the death of a young boy.

More than 7,500 medics have signed a letter raising deep seated concerns about last week’s decision to strike Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba from the medical register.

It comes after Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, raised similar concerns, warning that the decision could have implications for patient safety if doctors felt they could not admit openly to their mistakes.

Dr Bawa-Garba was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock, who had Down's Syndrome, in 2015, and received a suspended two-year prison sentence.

The letter, which is being circulated amongst medics and has been signed by many lead clinicians and high profile consultants, warns that the decision made by the General Medical Council punishes Dr Bawa-Garba and other doctors for admitting their mistakes, which could only lead to further tragedies.

It says the doctor’s mistake had to be considered in the context of the extraordinary pressures she was under and warned that it would frighten doctors away from honest self appraisal, with potentially terrible consequences in the future.