Ruling clears paediatrician

A paediatrician who admitted she exaggerated child abuse claims has
been cleared of professional misconduct by the General Medical
Council.

The council’s fitness to practice panel found that although Camille
de Sam Lazaro’s conduct had been “inappropriate, irresponsible and
unprofessional” it did not amount to serious professional
misconduct.

Lazaro, consultant paediatrician at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in
Newcastle, investigated claims of child sex abuse at Shieldfield
nursery in 1993. Nursery nurses Dawn Reed and Christopher Lillie
were charged with child sex abuse but later cleared.

Lazaro admitted that a report she wrote about the allegations was
overstated and exaggerated.

The panel also decided she had not adhered to principles of good
practice in the production of medical records and police statements
with regard to seven of the children she examined.

But the panel found no evidence that Lazaro had produced any other
documents before or since that were less than satisfactory. It also
took into account the excessive caseload she managed at the time,
with little nursing support.