'I will never trust a doctor again'

Dr Evans-Appiah leaves the hearing

The mother of a boy who died while anaesthetised by a doctor who has been struck off by the General Medical Council, speaks out after hearing the verdict.

Isla Denholm's son Darren, 10, died in 1999 after attending the Peffermill Dental Clinic to have a tooth out. After the GMC decided to remove Dr John Evans-Appiah's name from its register, she released a statement.

This is the full text:

"I would like to begin by thanking the GMC committee for coming to this very important decision.

"When I took Darren to Peffermill, he was a happy-go-lucky wee boy playing with his new yo-yo.

"I never imagined the next time I would see him he would be dead.

"I will never trust a doctor again.

"Evans-Appiah has drifted from one job to another and nobody seemed to care. But I did care.

Isla Denholm: "He drifted from job to job"

"That's why I've spent the last two years fighting to have Evans-Appiah stopped so that nobody else would have to go through the pain and suffering I and my family have gone through.

"Darren should be at secondary school now with friends - playing football, swimming and enjoying life but instead his ashes are scattered at Easter Road football ground.

"The last two years have been living hell for me and my family.

"First we had the fatal accident inquiry. Then the GMC.

"Now that Evans-Appiah has been struck off, I hope we can put this behind us and begin to remember the happy but short 10 years we had with Darren."

Mrs Denholm has set up the Darren Denholm Memorial Charitable Trust in memory of her son. The proceeds go towards helping children being treated at the Royal Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh.

Outside the GMC's offices, solicitor Catherine Kinsler read a statement from Dr Evans-Appiah.

"I'd like to say a few words to Mrs Denholm and Mrs Woolger.

The last few years have been very difficult for me as they have been for all concerned with this case

Dr John Evans-Appiah

"To Mrs Denholm I'd like to say how very sorry I am for all that has happened and to express my heartfelt condolences for the death of Darren.

"To Mrs Woolger I am deeply sorry for the distress she suffered during the birth of her child.

"The last few years have been very difficult for me as they have been for all concerned with this case.

"I'd like to thank patients, colleagues and friends for all their support."

Mrs Denholm's legal representative, Robert Carr, a medical negligence specialist, also released a statement. This is the full text:

"In the United Kingdom, we expect to be able to trust our doctors.

"We expect them to be well trained, skilled and experienced.

"We expect them to care for us competently. We expect them to be honest and make truthful and accurate records.

"We expect them to explain risks and alternatives.

The clinic attended by Darren

"John Evans-Appiah, in treating Darren Denholm, exhibited none of these qualities.

"He has shown himself to be unworthy of the title 'doctor'.

"In pursuing the complaints made by Mrs Denholm, the GMC have afforded the Denholm family every courtesy.

The prosecuting legal team, led by ably by Rebecca Poulet QC, have demonstrated the highet standards of preparation and advocacy.

"Mrs Denholm is grateful to them for their diligence. She is pleased with the outcome. Today, the public is a little safer. It is, of course, too late for Darren.

"The case has raised many questions of the medical establishment which remain unanswered.

• How could such an unsuitable person be in such a position of responsibility?

• How many other doctors are working in training posts without proper training and supervision?

• Why is there no system of regular testing of a doctor's knowledge, skill and experience?

• How can a doctor obtain full registration on the basis of practice and recommendation in one sphere of medicine but thereafter practise in another without constraint?

• Why were Scottish police officers, making inquiry at the GMC after the death of Darren Denholm, told that there was nothing of significance recorded in relation to Evans-Appiah?

• What steps have the GMC taken to address the flaws in their current process, highlighted by Sheriff Morrison's determination at the Scottish fatal accident inquiry?

• Why does Mrs Denholm, an innocent victim, have to endure the tortuous process of a fatal accident inquiry and hearings both from the GMC and the GDC? Surely one independent regulatory authority, responsible for all clinical disciplines, would limit such anguish.

"It is clear from the evidence at the fatal accident inquiry and at the GMC given by Evans-Appiah that he still refuses to accept the charges directed against him.

"Isla Denholm can never feel that he is truly remorseful until he recognises his failures.

"For her, that remains another ongoing sadness."