'Suicide' case GP keeps practice

Dr Iain Kerr was found guilty of misconduct

A GP who gave sleeping pills to a suicidal patient will be allowed to retain his practice.

Dr Iain Kerr, 61, was suspended from practising medicine for six months after prescribing the tablets to a woman considering suicide.

The doctor was found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC) last month.

He could have had the contract for his Glasgow practice terminated, but health chiefs have ruled it can remain open.

However, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it was required to remove Dr Kerr's name from the list of GPs in the board area.

Locums will attend to patients at the surgery in the Clarkston area during his suspension, the body said.

I very much regret the circumstances that brought me before the General Medical Council and regret any inconvenience to my patients Dr Iain Kerr

A statement said: "We will be writing to patients who have contacted the board expressing concern about Dr Kerr's situation, explaining how general medical services will continue to be provided at the Williamwood Medical Centre during Dr Iain Kerr's suspension.

"Once the suspension has been served, Dr Kerr has the right to re-apply to be re-instated to the list of general medical practitioners in the board area."

The nine-day hearing in Manchester found he prescribed a retired businesswoman, known as Patient A, with sodium amytal in 1998 "solely for the purpose of ending her life".

The patient was an osteoporosis sufferer who feared becoming a burden upon her family.

'Unusual circumstances'

The panel said he also showed poor clinical management after she took an overdose of Temazepam in December 2005.

Patient A killed herself later that month, aged 87, using a cocktail of Temazepam, antihistamines and painkillers.

The GMC branded his actions "inappropriate, irresponsible, liable to bring the profession into disrepute and not in your patient's best interest".

Speaking after the hearing, Dr Kerr said: "I very much regret the circumstances that brought me here before the General Medical Council and regret any inconvenience to my patients as a result of the investigation.

"The Fitness to Practise Panel has carefully considered all the facts and the evidence and I am grateful to them for taking into account the exceptional and unusual circumstances advanced on my behalf."