Episode 2

In the second part of Doctor Tell Me The Truth Prof Reason asks whether the University of Michigan programme could work in the NHS. Peter Walsh from Action Against Medical Accidents tells him of cases where doctors have been prevented from admitting their mistakes at the insistence of their managers. He introduces us to 'Robbie's Law', named after a boy who died as a result of medical malpractice, a piece of proposed legislation now being examined in the House of Lords which would require all NHS hospitals to adopt an open disclosure policy. Academics David Studdert and Alan Kalachian ask whether such a policy is legally enforceable or even desirable. Sir Liam Donaldson, a former Chief Medical Officer, tells us of his attempts to promote openness in the NHS and we hear from Robbie Powell's father who tells us that his twenty year legal battle could have been avoided if the doctors had only admitted their mistakes and apologised.