E-portfolios remain an important part of a doctor’s professional development

Commenting on the concerns around e-portfolios, following the judgement on the Dr Bawa-Garba case –

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, Senior Medicolegal Adviser at Medical Protection said:

“The judgement from the high court to erase Dr Bawa Garba from the medical register is disappointing and its implications will understandably be of concern to the healthcare community. One particular area of anxiety was the purported use of Dr Bawa-Garba’s e-portfolio at the criminal trial.  This has been widely misreported, as the e-portfolio did not form part of the documentary evidence before the court and jury. Indeed, the court was clear that reflections were irrelevant to the facts to be determined and that no weight should be given to remarks documented after the event.

“It would be extremely rare for a doctor to provide the contents of their e-portfolio for anything other than educational purposes. Information should be anonymised in any event and if doctors are approached to disclose such information they should seek clarification from their medical defence organisation as to whether they should comply with such a request or not.

“Our advice on the use of e-portfolios is, and remains, that a doctor’s portfolio is an important part of their professional development. They should bear in mind that not disclosing an incident or reflection during appraisal may lead to a greater risk of allegations of probity and referral to the GMC.”

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