Posted about this a while back. Sorry it's long.
I made a complaint to the GMC about a surgeon who is a family friend. I have a pelvic problem that began during pregnancy. At the time of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint, I was using a wheelchair outside the house. Over dinner with my parents, this doctor offered to visit me. I accepted and he duly came, took a detailed, business-like medical history, viewed scans, asked more medical questions, carried out an uncomfortable examination that involved putting pressure on the pubic bone. No one else was present. He said that he thought he had a treatment that could help me (over the ensuing weeks this turned into an oft-repeated assurance that he could 'completely cure' me to the point that I would live a normal life and bear more children). He recommended a guided injection of steroids/analgesics into the tendon. At the end of the consultation, he stated very firmly that he treated the whole person comprised of mind, body and spirit. I asked what that would involve and he hedged, saying Christ is the true healer. I was desperate for the (free) treatment and am a Christian, so I agreed.
Many hours of incredibly invasive, leading questioning followed, over a period of weeks. (I later discovered that the purpose of this questioning was to 'identify antagonisms'.) I have never known anything like it. He also demanded that my DH was there and subjected him to the questioning at times also. We were bewildered and doubtful that this injection was taking a long time to materialise. I kept checking that he had successfully treated my condition before; he assured me that he had. Then, without warning, he suddenly announced that I had to go and seek forgiveness from a family member for holding anger against them all my life. He pointed out that I was being abandoned to worsening torment because I hadn't done so already. Once I had done this, we were told that the doctor would 'harness' the 'spiritual and physical transformation' that would miraculously follow, making the injection much more effective. His manner during all this was a U-turn from how he'd been during the questioning; it was bullying and very, aggressive. He recounted endless anecdotes of all the other patients these tactics had worked with, along with a cautionary tale of another patient in exactly my circumstances who had suffered 'the worst fate' after refusing to go along with his 'request'. He also warned me that my condition could rapidly deteriorate to the point that I would lose parenting control of my daughter (something I'd earlier disclosed as my greatest fear). After that evening, there were emails reiterating the severity and urgency of my condition and the 'stated ramifications' if I didn't follow the 'prescribed pathway for healing'.
We got out of the situation as best we could and made a formal complaint to the GMC, complete with witness statements from myself and my husband. The doctor responded to say that he had NEVER investigated me, carried out an examination, diagnosed a condition, recommended a treatment or acted as a doctor in any way whatsoever. He was at a loss to know why I had abruptly terminated our friendly chats! He also pointed out that I had 'a long psychiatric history from childhood' and was good at writing (?). (I had panic attacks aged 14 and moderate depression at times during my twenties with one more serious episode.)
The GMC asked my parents to clarify what help the doctor had originally offered, thinking (they said in their report) that it could all have been 'a huge misunderstanding). My parents are ill and feel angry with me for getting a family friend into 'trouble'. They refused to participate. The GMC have closed the investigation without taking any action whatsoever, because:
- All they have to go on is two conflicting reports. The doctor says he wasn't acting as a doctor, which would mean it wasn't anything to do with them. Apparently, since the reports of what happened conflict and there is no other evidence, my witness statement alone isn't sufficient evidence. (This would not be the case if the complaint was more serious.) If the doctor was not acting as a doctor (My husband's witness statement is very similar to mine, BTW).
- The doctor has a clean record up to now and it would take something more serious than this to cause them apprehension.
- Without my parents' involvement they're unable to rule out that this could have been a misunderstanding, as above, with the doctor thinking he was there as a spiritual guide and me thinking he was there as a doctor.
So basically, if you see a patient privately (and this doctor is only in private practice) and then lie through your teeth about what happened, you can do what you like? Especially if you can claim that the patient in question has 'a long history of psychiatric problems?'
This episode was very, very difficult to go through and I'd like to know that it wouldn't happen to anyone else. I'd also like to know that what happened was addressed. Is there anything more that I can do?