Led by chairman Mark Gillett, who is director of performance at West Bromwich Albion, the Premier League Doctors’ Group released a statement that expressed ‘concern’ that Mourinho’s actions put out a message that results are more important than the wellbeing of players.
The statement said: “Doctors working for Premier League teams and attending matches in a professional capacity are bound by the same professional and ethical boundaries as any other doctor practicing in the United Kingdom.
“The General Medical Council issue clear guidelines on good medical practice that need to be met in order for a doctor to maintain a licence to practice and satisfy the criteria for professional revalidation every five years. Maintenance of the duty of care from the doctor to the patient is fundamental to these guidelines, even when the patient is a footballer playing in a Premier League game.
“The Premier League Doctor’s Group considers that removing Dr Eva Carneiro from the Chelsea team bench for their next match is unjust in the extreme. In the publicised incident in last Saturday’s game against Swansea, the Chelsea medical staff were clearly summoned on to the field of play by the match referee to attend to a player. A refusal to run onto the pitch would have breached the duty of care required of the medical team to their patient.
“It is a huge concern that Dr Carneiro has been subjected to unprecedented media scrutiny and a change in her professional role, merely because she adhered to her code of professional conduct and did her job properly.
“Dr Carneiro has universal and total support from her medical colleagues at the Premier League Doctors Group. It is also of great concern that at a time when the both the Premier League and the Premier League Doctors group are intensifying efforts to safeguard player welfare, the precedent set by this incident demonstrates that the medical care of players appears to be secondary to the result of the game.
“Much progress has been made in the provision of pitch side medical care for Premier League players over the last 10 years. This incident highlights that there is more work to be done, with a pressing need to further establish and highlight the explicit role of a Premier League doctor with our colleagues at the LMA and PFA.”
Carneiro and Fearn have also received support from the Football Medical Association, who released a statement saying: “If a player sustains or appears to sustain an injury and indicates that he needs assistance it is the duty of the referee to permit medical assessment and evaluation to be provided.
“At that moment, the player becomes a patient of the medical team and it is the duty and obligation of Club medical staff to attend to that patient accordingly and without prejudice to the interests of anyone else including the Club employing them.
“The Football Medical Association fully supports the actions of our members and colleagues in this incident who acted with integrity and professionalism at all times, fully consistent of the rules of the game and in full accordance with that duty of care to their patient. Factors extraneous to the immediate medical needs of the patient (such as the stage and state of the game) cannot be part of their consideration at such time.”
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