Orders of the Day — Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 7:11 pm on 23 January 2001.

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Photo of Dr Peter Brand Dr Peter Brand Liberal Democrat, Isle of Wight 7:11, 23 January 2001

I am grateful for that intervention, because it allows me to clarify my view. As I have said earlier, Shipman dealt with his sense of infallibility—or, perhaps, insecurity; we do not know what motivated him—in a uniquely wicked, murderous way.

I hope that the inquiry will, in a sense, be in two parts: one part considering Shipman and how he managed to get away with his wicked and evil deeds; and the other considering the support and regulatory mechanisms that we need in order to assure the general public that the privileged relationship between doctor and patient is not abused, albeit in a lesser way, by other practitioners. Shipman is unique, but I do not believe that he is the only medical practitioner—or nurse, or indeed vicar—who, having found that he is professionally isolated, has started to behave oddly.