GP Sports

"SPORTS DAY and the COUNTRY DOCTOR"

One of the most useful documents to originate from the British Medical Association has recently been published. It concerns the liability of any doctor who attends any sporting event as medical adviser or "just in case of accident" Many colleagues are tempted to yield to the entreaties of the organisers of small, local events in villages, schools and, for instance, the local youth club. They do this as a favour and because they are the local doctor, particularly in rural areas, but they do it in almost complete ignorance of the risks they and the participants are taking in these overly litigious times when very high standards are expected.

The BMA should make a copy of the final document freely available, or even actively distributed it, to all general practitioners and through them to the organisers of every sporting event who may request medical support no matter on what scale that event may be. Events which come to mind are village fetes, school sports days, football and cricket games and similar events. In all these cases the covering doctor, be he the local GP or any other, is totally responsible for any medical accident even though that may be beyond his own personal skill. He will be judged according to the skills of properly trained sports practitioners.

The authors of the report hope that this will not deter doctors from offering their services. I think that to be a fond hope. Many colleagues will think twice in future after reading it and realising, for the first time in full, the responsibilities they are accepting. In that case there is a great risk that some of the smaller local events, covered by the country GP, may take place without medical cover or not at all. Few of us are fully equipped to fulfil the high standards rightly demanded and the very existence of the Report sets standards to which the Courts and the GMC will expect colleagues to achieve, whether they have read it or not. That, of course, is no bad thing but it may well be a deterrent.

Country doctors can no longer allow themselves to be persuaded by the local headmaster or vicar, over a drink, to "come along, John, it’ll be a great help. Nothing will happen." From now on, John must be an expert in sports medicine, first aid and rescuscitation in all circumstances. They will have a duty of care to all participants and spectators.

There is also the increased liability of the practitioner and the effect this will have on the premiums of the Defence Bodies. They may consider it to be unfair that the risk, now that it is clearly set out for the Courts, be spread over the whole profession and may demand a supplementary premium from "sports" doctors. This may also be a deterrent. As will be the increased possibility of being referred to the GMC and struck off virtually for life (5 years) as an unfortunate consequence of continuing to do a favour to the local school.

Events may have overtaken the authors in that the implementation of the Human Rights Act may well negate the effect of the Bolam principle with which we and the courts have co-existed for so long.

On the whole it is an excellent document in that it raises the awareness of colleagues to the risks they will take if they do volunteer their services to the local school sports day. It will have far-reaching effects.

I recommend all country doctors to read it before the summer season and to contact their defence body before agreeing to take part in sports days. You have been warned.

Doctors Assistance to Sports Clubs and Sporting Events - BMA

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NO AID FOR FIRST AID

The general sporting public are being completely left in the dark when it comes to first aid, according to Jerry Newlove, managing director of First Aid 4 Sport.

Keen sportsman Jerry claims that there is absolutely no specific guidance or legislation which defines what must be in a first aid kit, or even to specify that a trained first aider is required on the pitch side.

Says Jerry: “Every workplace has a trained first aider, despite the fact that an active, competitive match is far more likely to generate injury than an efficiently run workplace, but there is no legislation that requires a responsible first aider to be at the pitch side or even advise on how to make provision for injury if they were there!

“They say ‘have a first aid kit’ but do not tell you what to put in it, or that you may need to be trained - for example, some kits may have resuscitation masks in them, which are no use to the untrained whatsoever,” concludes Jerry.

Even though The National Sports Medicine Institute has launched its own kits, in conjunction with a major manufacturer, Jerry claims that they are aimed at a higher level of competency, which makes them unusable, in a similar way to the resuscitation mask scenario.

Jerry continues: “This highlights the need for the government to do something. The vast majority of people who I speak to in my job are always returning blank expressions when I ask them what they would like their kit to contain - or even what level of kit they would like.

“The government should be researching and passing down general guidelines and solutions to the various sports governing bodies, to be then tailored for that particular sport. The fact that they are not leaves coaches and managers in the dark, with their knowledge and provision of treating injuries not being as efficient as it should be.

“Professional sporting events have guidelines that suggest that all participating teams must have trained physios at the ready, but even here, the guidelines come from the event’s promoters, not the government.

“Some sports groups have even taken it on themselves to enforce first aid training, for example, trampolining coaching courses will give some level of first aid training, but there is no law that says what level this should be, or that it should even be included in the first place.

“If nothing is done amateur teams and sporting individuals will suffer in the long run, be this though untreated injuries or simply financially, as they waste their valuable club funds on extravagant kits that they cannot even use.”