The doctor in the Gosport hospital horror joked with ex-colleagues in a self-pitying letter – whining about her own “miseries” after a probe into deaths under her care
Jane Barton – branded Dr Opiate over excessive morphine prescriptions behind up to 650 deaths – moaned about her suffering in a note to staff after a party to celebrate her retirement
In a hand-written card she wrote: “It was a great chance to thank you all for what you have done… especially the miseries of the last few years
” Dr Barton, 69, spent 12 years at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, Hants, where a report last month ruled there had been a “disregard for human life” in the care of hundreds of elderly patients
She retired in 2010, tending her resignation ahead of a General Medical Council ruling on her conduct
Referring to herself and husband Tim, her note told colleagues: “We shan’t forget you and the humour of the job
” And in a bizarre quip, she added: “Watch out for me in a nurse’s kit using a hammer and chisel – help!!!” She also made a joke about chocolate biscuits to colleagues at Forton Medical Practice
She was a part-time clinical assistant at the Gosport hospital from 1989 until 2000, and was responsible for all prescriptions on the affected wards
An inquest in 2009, the year before she left, looked into 10 deaths at the hospital
It found drugs had been given in a manner that had “contributed more than minimally” to five of those deaths
Two months before her retirement, Dr Barton was found guilty by the GMC of “multiple instances of serious professional misconduct”
They ruled she had prescribed “potentially hazardous” levels of drugs. The panel did not strike her off, but imposed 11 restrictions – including banning her from prescribing opiates by injection for three years
She handed her resignation to partners at Forton ahead of the GMC ruling in January 2010
Dr Barton’s thank-you note was among more than 43,000 documents released by the Gosport Independent Panel following publication of their report into deaths at the hospital
The four-year probe found 456 elderly patients had their lives “shortened” by overdoses prescribed by Dr Barton
It is likely another 200 patients whose medical records are missing suffered the same fate, the panel concluded
Yet in another note to colleagues, Dr Barton dismisses the probe, thanking colleagues for “all your support and kindness throughout the investigations and the associated hassle
” And in a document dated shortly after the 2009 inquest she complains about a lack of victim support officers… to care for her
In an email to a solicitor after “murdering bitch slag” was daubed on her wall, she wrote: “Tim has spoken to the police, there is nobody from victim support available until Tuesday
Meanwhile the power washer comes out.” The documents also tell how Dr Barton was identified as early as 2001 as a “primary care practitioner whose performance is giving cause for concern”
But in a backlash against the criticism, she warns of a witch-hunt following the jailing of Dr Harold Shipman – given life a year earlier for the murder of 15 patients, and suspected of killing 250
She told her NHS trust: “This post-Shipman culture with the associated ritual humiliation leaves the medical profession unacceptably vulnerable
” She went on to check they would still pay her to chair her Primary Care Group. Pauline Williamson, 63, whose husband’s parents died 17 days apart at Gosport, said: “She didn’t want to suffer financially and expects counselling for graffiti on a wall – but does not feel it’s necessary for the bereaved families
”