Doctor Warns of ECT Risks

A doctor who underwent 21 sessions of a controversial electric shock therapy to treat her depression claims the treatment has left her brain damaged and unemployable.

Dr Susan Cunliffe received 21 sessions of the electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) at Worcestershire Royal Hospital between 2004 and 2005 to combat severe depression following the break-up of her marriage.

The mother-of-three says the treatment has affected her mobility and speech, and has left her unable to do her job.

She is now demanding an independent scientific study to determine the effects of ECT, and argues that the possibility of brain damage as a side-effect was never mentioned.

Dr Cunliffe said, "I have not been given closure and have had to live for the last ten years with a serious disability. I first had my brain damage diagnosed towards the end of 2007, two years after it (ECT) happened."

The doctor has received support from West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin, who is trying to lobby Parliament to examine the use of ECT.

A spokesperson for the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust said, "We are aware of a request to look into the treatment given to Mrs Cunliffe back in 2005 by our predecessor trust, and will be meeting with her over the next few weeks to discuss next steps.

"It is important that patients are reassured the ECT department was independently accredited as 'excellent' in 2008 and then again in 2011 by regulators."

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Mellor Hargreaves Ltd

Oldham Medical Negligence Solicitors