Paediatrician ban revoke welcomed

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A colleague of a doctor banned from child protection work has welcomed the lifting of his working restrictions.

Dr David Southall was stopped from such duties in 2004 after accusing the solicitor Sally Clark's husband of murdering their two children.

His ban was lifted by the General Medical Council (GMC) on Sunday.

Dr Martin Samuels, who worked alongside Dr Southall at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, said the ban damaged the profession.

'Injudicious'

"The recent guidelines from the GMC points out quite clearly that the safety of the child is paramount and I think that paediatricians need to be wholeheartedly supported in that so that they feel free and confident, comfortable in raising child protection issues," Dr Samuels said.

Dr Southall based his accusation on a television interview Sally Clark's husband, Steve, gave.

Mrs Clark was wrongly jailed for three years. She died in 2007, four years after her release.

The paediatrician said his view of what had happened to the couple's two children was "beyond reasonable doubt".

However he told the hearing that he accepted the language he used in the accusation was "injudicious".