Lying doctor struck off register

A Barnsley GP who admitted failing to provide evidence to an inquest into an 82-year-old woman's death has been barred from practising.

Dr Nigel Palmer, 45, was given a suspended jail sentence at Sheffield Crown Court last year after admitting perverting the course of justice.

A former GP at Park Grove surgery, he hid the existence of evidence at an inquest into the death of Eileen Gill.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has erased him from the medical register.

Palmer was arrested after the inquest into the death of Ms Gill, who died in a house fire, was halted in Sheffield last year because of his lies.

'Completely wrong'

He was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Sheffield Crown Court in November last year.

The GMC hearing in Manchester was told that he reported his concern for Ms Gill's welfare to social services.

But when they replied he denied receiving a response and hid the message book it was recorded in.

The GMC said he had made misleading medical notes and did not inform Ms Gill's family he had spoken to social services.

The hearing was told that Palmer accepted what he did was "completely wrong" and that he regretted his actions.

The GMC fitness to practise panel said it did not accept that his actions were an isolated instance of dishonesty in a "moment of madness" and he was struck off.