Dr Valerie Murphy denied accusations of misconduct after a teenager who had epilepsy died in his bath at a care unit

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A psychiatrist has shown no remorse for the death of a teenager with epilepsy who drowned in a bath at an NHS care unit, a medical tribunal has found.

Dr Valerie Murphy was the psychiatrist responsible for the care of Connor Sparrowhawk, an 18-year-old with learning difficulties, who was found submerged in water at Slade House in Oxford in July 2013.

A disciplinary panel previously ruled she had “ultimate responsibility” for the teenager and should have carried out and recorded risk assessments.

On Sunday, the tribunal found that her fitness to practise was impaired because of an absence of real and full insight, having taken only partial steps to remediation, into the impact of her misconduct on the profession.

Murphy had said she believed the assessments were the responsibility of nurses, but accepted she had failed to comment on risk assessments carried out by nursing staff.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard Sparrowhawk had already had two suspected epileptic fits at the unit, including an earlier episode in the bath, in the weeks before his death.

Sparrowhawk’s mother, Sara Ryan, an Oxford University academic, told the hearing in August her own concerns were dismissed and she found Murphy “dismissive, arrogant and distant”. She was led to believe he was being “observed closely” in case he had a fit, but staff checks on him had been reduced from every 10 or 15 minutes to an hour, the tribunal heard.

On Sunday, the tribunal’s chairman, Martin Jackson, noted that Sparrowhawk’s mother had still not received an apology from Murphy.

He said: “Even at the beginning of these proceedings in 2017, she [Dr Murphy] still appeared to be looking for excuses, a position from which she has not departed significantly to date. There is a clear reluctance to admit full responsibility for her actions, as she appears to have only accepted responsibility for those parts which cannot be denied.

“Furthermore, the tribunal has noted that there has been an absence of apology to Patient A’s mother and an absence of remorse for the consequences.

“It considers that the remorse displayed was limited to the consequences these proceedings have had upon her.”

Sparrowhawk was diagnosed with autism when he was three, had learning difficulties, and developed epilepsy at 18 when his behaviour began to deteriorate. With his family struggling to cope, he was found a place at Slade House in March 2013 for further assessment and to come up with a plan for his treatment.

Murphy, who denied misconduct, had admitted 30 failings in relation to his death, but the tribunal found a further nine were proved and 18 were not proved.

The tribunal will reconvene in Manchester at a later date to decide what sanction, if any, to impose on Murphy, which includes erasure from the medical register.

The unit, now closed, was run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which accepted full responsibility after an inquest into Sparrowhawk’s death ruled neglect played a part.

The trust is facing prosecution under the Health and Safety Act.