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GP suspended over laptop ‘dishonesty’ to appeal GMC ruling

GP suspended over laptop ‘dishonesty’ to appeal GMC ruling

The GP suspended for ‘dishonesty’ over a laptop she said she had been ‘promised’ will appeal the GMC’s decision.

Medical defence organisation the Medical Defence Union (MDU) today announced that it is assisting the appeal of Dr Manjula Arora.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) this month suspended Dr Manjula Arora for a month for ‘dishonesty’ after she told an IT department she had been ‘promised’ a laptop.

The tribunal said that she had ‘exaggerated’ these claims, and as a result found that her fitness to practise was impaired.

However, doctors groups had reacted angrily to the judgement, saying that a suspension was disproportionate for a relatively minor offence.

The MDU said today: ‘We can confirm that the MDU is assisting the appeal of Dr Arora following the outcome of the MPTS hearing on the 12 May 2022. 

‘Given this is a live case, the MDU will be making no further comment at this time.’

Last week, the GMC said it will review the decision to suspend Dr Arora.

The RCGP today said: ‘We are deeply concerned about Dr Arora’s case and whilst we welcome the decision by the GMC to review the ruling, we will be asking for answers as to why the case was allowed to get through their screening processes and end in a Fitness to Practise Hearing and receiving a sanction. 

‘GPs are working in an increasingly punitive and litigious environment and any referral to the GMC causes enormous stress and distress for the doctor being investigated, their colleagues and families.  As well as being devastating for Dr Arora, cases such as this only make it harder to retain existing GPs and persuade new ones to go into general practice, and particularly to work in out of hours.’

It added that GPs and their teams are ‘working under greater pressures than ever before’ and that ‘it seems incomprehensible to remove a doctor with, to our knowledge, an otherwise impeccable track record from frontline patient care, even for a short period of time’.

The RCGP will ‘continue [its] work to ensure all regulators actively avoid perceptions of discrimination’ and called for ‘much greater support – including better IT and infrastructure – to do our jobs properly and care for patients safely’, it said.

Meanwhile, the Doctors Association UK (DAUK) and the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) last week wrote to the Professionals Standards Authority (PSA) demanding an ‘urgent re-review by the PSA’ of the case.

They also called for an ‘urgent review of GMC screening processes which have manifestly failed’.

They added that cases such as this are contributing to ‘an irreparable loss of confidence in the GMC’ and a ‘damaging effect on medical morale’.

The BMA also demanded an overhaul of GMC processes after the ‘incomprehensible’ ruling.

Earlier this month, the GMC said that the current ‘rethink’ of doctor regulation will make its process ‘less adversarial’ in future.


          

READERS' COMMENTS [8]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

SUBHASH BHATT 30 May, 2022 12:29 pm

I wondered who reported Gp to gmc? The person and gmc may have better things to do. She was told lap top will be available so I see no problem in her saying she is promised to have one when available..
It is laughable to think it impaired her ability to practice for one month and then ok.
Who are these people who make such decision?

Vinci Ho 30 May, 2022 2:07 pm

While I would respect the process of appeal giving no more comment, my question remains how many more cases GMC should review to restore their credibility?

Patrufini Duffy 30 May, 2022 2:40 pm

The profession wants to see a list of names of those in Tribunals and their perverse conscious discrimination and how they can’t apparently do their job properly…nor maintain trust and integrity of sense of proportion, and clearly brings their warped profession into “disrepute”. Do suspend them also and get them some training in common sense, gender and colour.

David Church 30 May, 2022 5:46 pm

Ooh dear – there’s a paragraph there that looks suspiciously like the RCGP spokesperson is asking for a laptop! Should they be suspended for a few months for such exaggerated ideas about IT equipment?

David Church 30 May, 2022 5:48 pm

It’s obvious her fitness to practice was impaired by lack of a laptop, so she needed some time off until one would be available, a month later, because the ship from China takes that long to get here.

John Charlton 7 June, 2022 12:35 pm

If ones fitness to practice hinges of a single word then just about every GP should be worried. Added to this the offence!! Was 3 years ago. The GMC are at best dysfunctional and at worse …..

Patrufini Duffy 21 June, 2022 2:22 pm

The initial concerns were raised with the GMC on 21 February 2020 by Dr B.
It is funny how difficult it is to find out who: “Dr B, Medical Director at Mastercall Healthcare” is? They did a convenient dash and run with this.

Who are you Dr B? – who says someone is “dishonest”. Let us analyse your history and honesty and integrity. Perhaps someone should rummage around your past?

Well, the entire profession knows whats going on and why Charlie is a little sensitive at present.
There is a little camaraderie with Dr B and the “institutes” – you know a little bias and “thanks for dobbing her in, we will sort out the rest” kind of disgusting parody.

He knows cracks are appearing in the smokescreen. And the universe is doing it’s rounds on the corrupt.
The common man and woman knows honesty and integrity – they can smell an off fish – and well done Pulse for keeping headlines going – the profession across all quarters, from surgeon to physician to carer to nurse to caretaker to trolley pusher to pharmacist understands the words – hypocrite, double-standards and racism. It is certainly worrying the leaders in their blue suits and party dresses. They can’t maintain their polarised attitudes and historical past much longer and it is worrying their salaries and positions.

If her name was Dr Margaret Atkins or Dr Molly Amersham instead, then Dr B would be in bliss and happy as larry, and all this would be brushed under the carpet as a silly joke and let’s have a beer after work. Dr B should be named, step forward and provide their registration and standing – and take the hearing decision themselves. And also, they should go visit Dr A and say how happy they sleep at night, like a school kid.