Further 12 month ban for GP who tried to "discredit" colleague

Wednesday 27 July 2022

A doctor who inappropriately accessed a woman’s medical records as part of a ploy to discredit a colleague has been banned from seeing patients for a further 12 months.

Dr Michael Edwin Vincent had already been suspended for seven months in November 2021 as a result of the misconduct in 2018.

However, at a review hearing this month, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service,w hich oversees doctors' conduct and makes findings about their fitness to practice, found that he had not shown enough understanding of the impact of his actions to justify lifting the suspension.

The misconduct occurred in 2018, a time when there was "strain" between professionals in his practice.

The Tribunal found that Dr Vincent had "accessed the medical records of a fellow partner in the same practice, 'Mrs A', who was not his patient and did so without her consent" in March that year.

In May and June, he also accessed the records of 'Mrs B', who was the wife of one of the partners in the practice and not one of his patients, without permission.

The Tribunal found that Dr Vincent accessed Mrs B's records at a time when he was "making a series of allegations against Dr C", in an attempt to "prove his suspicions that she was being treated by her husband" and subsequently "discredit his colleague."

The Tribunal noted that, during the 2021 hearing, Dr Vincent "had not taken full responsibility for his actions", "provided inconsistent accounts" and "had not apologised to Mrs B for his real motivation, which appeared to be to discredit a colleague (her husband)."

It also found "no evidence that Dr Vincent had reflected" on the impact of his actions on Mrs A, who was so "deeply affected" by what happened that she found it now more difficult to "open up to professionals."

The 2021 Tribunal said that it hoped that, after its seven-month suspension, they would see evidence from Dr Vincent of keeping his medical skills up to date and "evidence of any further insight into his misconduct to include a reflective statement."

Priya Khanna, on behalf of the General Medical Council, said there was little to no evidence of either.

Dr Vincent was not present at the hearing, but his legal representatives had submitted a letter on his behalf noting that he agreed for his suspension to continue. It said he had been unable to undertake any professional development courses partly due to the pandemic.

It added, however: "Dr Vincent is committed to returning to medicine and although is in currently difficult circumstances, it is his intention to provide evidence that he has been keeping his medical skills up to date and his reflections at a future date."

The Tribunal accepted that the pandemic had made it difficult to undertake courses, but noted that online options were available. It also noted that Dr Vincent had not shared a statement of reflection on his misconduct.

In the absence of these, the Tribunal concluded it was "necessary" to continue to declare his fitness to practice 'impaired' "for the protection of the public and in the wider public interest."

Turning to what sanction to impose, the Tribunal decided: "As the Tribunal has no information regarding Dr Vincent's CPD it considered that patients may be at risk and therefore action must be taken for the protection of the public. The Tribunal also considered that, as Dr Vincent has not provided any information that he has remediated his misconduct, action must be taken to promote and maintain public confidence in the medical profession and promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for the members of the profession.

"Therefore, the Tribunal determined that a further period of 12 months' suspension is necessary on all three limbs of the overarching objective. Given that in the last seven months Dr Vincent has been unable to provide any evidence of insight and remediation, the Tribunal considered that 12 months would be appropriate."

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