Dr suspended over admin failure

A family planning doctor who failed to update a patient's notes, despite concerns she may be suicidal, has been banned from practising for six months.

Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, was found guilty of professional misconduct by a General Medical Council panel on Thursday.

The GMC said given Dr Pratt's concerns her actions were "unacceptable".

Allegations Dr Pratt prescribed the woman an exorcism during a consultation at Westside Contraceptive Services in Westminster, London, were not proven.

The patient, known as Mrs K, had seen Dr Pratt for routine consultation about a contraceptive injection.

Failure to co-operate

The panel heard that after the appointment Dr Pratt told a nurse at the clinic that she thought Mrs K may have been subject to witchcraft and that she was worried about the welfare of her two children.

However allegations the doctor told Mrs K she had an evil spirit moving inside her and needed an exorcism could not be proved, the Fitness to Practise Panel ruled.

It said it could not be certain whose account of events during the consultation were more accurate.

It ruled the doctor's failure to co-operate fully with Westminster Primary Care Trust's inquiries about Mrs K's complaint was unprofessional.

"Given Dr Pratt's concerns that Mrs K was a particularly vulnerable patient, that the welfare of her children may have been at risk and that she may have been 'suicidal', it was completely unacceptable for her to fail to update the medical notes," the ruling read.

"The panel found that Dr Pratt did not co-operate fully with the PCT investigation and that her conduct was unprofessional."