Could Shipman Happen Again?

Synopsis

Ann Alexander talks to key players in the Harold Shipman case, including doctors, health academics, victims' families, politicians and police, to ask if adequate systems are now in place to prevent such an atrocity re-occurring.

At the time of his trial, details of the way in which Shipman had managed to evade the systems designed to prevent and detect abuses of medical power prompted calls for urgent change. The Shipman Inquiry, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, produced an unprecedented series of six reports which recommended far-reaching changes to medical regulation, the control of drugs and procedures following the death of patients.

Ann talks to Dame Janet Smith, who says that, while the government accepted the vast majority of her recommendations, it has failed to implement significant elements.