Jenny Vaughan, 50, is a consultant neurologist in London. She is a leading campaigner for reforming the law on gross negligence manslaughter when applied to those working in healthcare. She articulated the unease many people felt at the conviction of the surgeon David Sellu and, as campaign chair for his appeal, was instrumental in getting his conviction overturned. This was recognised by a Modern Law award in 2018, together with the Sellu legal team. She also campaigned for Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba to be restored to the medical register. She is an NHS patient as well as a doctor having survived cancer in 2017. She supports recent recommendations to improve communication with families affected by medical error and that avoidable harm must be tackled as a top priority by both the NHS and private healthcare.
Her current interests are Patient Safety and ‘Just Culture’ as well as tackling discrimination in the NHS for which she has been recognised by both British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and British International Doctor’s Association. She was elected as a council member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2019 and is a council member of The Medical Womens Federation. She is law and policy and Learn not Blame lead at The Doctor’s Association UK (DAUK). In 2018 she received the BMJ editor’s award for speaking truth to power. Her other interests include whistleblowing, FTSU (currently acting as a judge for this category at HSJ Awards 2020). She tweets @DrJennyVaughan