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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Clare's Law application

90 replies

CosmoKlit · 15/04/2017 10:24

Would you do it if you found out someone you were dating had lied about their past (small lie), and been removed from the GMC register potentially (as in complete erasure and there is no longer any record of them at all)? Of course it's possible they were never on it in the first place.

Can't decide if I am being batshit crazy, I should just walk away for even thinking this, or I should make the application?

OP posts:
TheFirstMrsDV · 15/04/2017 11:00

There is usually quite a lot of attention when a doctor is stuck off. I would be amazed if you couldn't find a news report.
I suspect he never was a doctor.
Either way he doesn't seem the most trustworthy of men

Bluntness100 · 15/04/2017 11:01

That's true op. I get that. Make the application and explain your concerns to the police. At least you will know either way.

NotMyPenguin · 15/04/2017 11:03

I can't see the harm in making an application. That way you know.

Seems likely that either he has done something bad in the past that has resulted in erasure, or he is lying about having been a doctor.

Unless this all happened in another country rather than the UK...

APlaceOnTheCouch · 15/04/2017 11:05

But even if you make the application and it comes back with nothing, you still won't know why he was struck off or if he was ever a doctor. You seem to fundamentally distrust him. The Clare's Law application isn't going to fix that. I'd trust your instincts and walk away if I were you.

Original poster
CosmoKlit · 15/04/2017 11:05

MrsDv Yes.

BTW if he was never a doctor, it's a LTB for me.

If it was abuse it's a LTB for me.

If it was something else then we ned to have a long chat about honesty and transperency or it's a Leave for me (I'm not sure).

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 15/04/2017 11:06

A quick google shows you could try asking the gmc if he was struck off and for the tribunal results.

HoldBackTheRain · 15/04/2017 11:09

Just remember that doing the Claire's Law application only brings up men/women who have been convicted of an offence. Most men that beat/abuse/rape women never even get charged (5% conviction rate for DV from reporting, 6% for rape) so you could do an application that brings up nothing, think you have nothing to worry about and then be in a very dangerous situation. You would be if you met my ex. Nothing there on his record, but the most terrifying man I've known in real life.

Apairofsparklingeyes · 15/04/2017 11:14

Why are you wasting your time with someone who lies to you?

leghoul · 15/04/2017 11:29

Perhaps he was never a doctor, maybe he failed finals and went into something else afterwards- you'd nbe able to find the info from a GMC hearing if he had been completely erased from the register. It's in the public domain. Do you have his correct name, though? Alternatively, he could have trained abroad. Whatever it is, it sounds like you're not happy.

NeedMoreSleepOrSugar · 15/04/2017 11:31

Also bear in mind that (as far as I'm aware) you aren't guaranteed to receive the information under Claire's law, even if there is something in his past - the police will make a determination as to whether you are likely to be in danger and only then disclose. So it's entirely possible that he could have done something, been convicted and struck off and you still wouldn't be told.

228agreenend · 15/04/2017 11:31

Maybe he was a doctor, but decided not to continue in this field, and so has never renewed his registration. Eg. Harry Hill, and therefore he no longer on the register. Have you reason to suspect it's something sinister, or could there be an innocent explanation?

Doctors being struck off usually get widely reported.

Daisydots · 15/04/2017 11:33

I dated somebody once who told me their dad was a doctor, was always going on about it. Out of curiously (and suspicion- he never went to work at normal times) I had a look and he wasn't on the register. He was a retired nurse and for some reason the whole family lied to make themselves look better.

Daisydots · 15/04/2017 11:34

*curiousity

Wolfiefan · 15/04/2017 11:34

He's lying to you? You don't trust him. Game over.

Daisydots · 15/04/2017 11:35

Agree with PPs that something must have caused you to think about domestic violence though, as that wouldn't be a usual first thought?

WitchQueenofNewOrleans · 15/04/2017 11:38

You gut is telling you something's not right.

I don't think whatever it is he is lying about/withholding is a "small lie".

SpicyTomatos · 15/04/2017 11:39

I searched the list for a doctor that google told me had been struck off. She still came up on the register, but with a note regarding the erasure.

Retired doctors are not on the list unless they continue their registration.

So either retired or a porky pie.

TheElephantofSurprise · 15/04/2017 11:42

Is the name he is using now the name he had when he was a doctor?

FlyingElbows · 15/04/2017 11:42

Speak to the GMC and see if they can help you. Go in to your local police station and speak to them and they'll tell you if they can help you and how. Tbh I think the fact you have to do either should be a Ltb. Op good relationships don't involve this bullshit and having to play detective. You deserve better.

CarSeeker · 15/04/2017 11:46

He'd still be on the register: our retired family doctor (95) still shows up, even though he hasn't practised for 30 odd years. Similarly, someone I know who gave up practice before he could be struck off is there, as is the one person I know who was actually struck off. I presume this must be normal practice?

Sorry, OP, but I think, if you are sure you know his right name etc and he's not there - then he never was a medical doctor.

SpicyTomatos · 15/04/2017 11:57

Presumably your 95 year old doctor keeps paying his subs.

nonameinspiration · 15/04/2017 12:00

Sounds really dodgy sorry

Headofthehive55 · 15/04/2017 12:01

He may have not actually qualified. Went to med school got thrown out for failing exams?
I think if he had been on the register he would still be with a note saying he was no longer registered, if that makes sense?
It's a worry. You don't get struck off by innocuous things.

LuxCoDespondent · 15/04/2017 12:04

You've clearly got doubts about the man, so I don't see how there is a future for the relationship. Either he is a liar or you have unnecessary suspicions about him. Whichever is the case it is a very unsound foundation for a relationship.

An unlikely longshot is that he was/is indeed a doctor, but not one of medicine, or not one within the UK. A doctorate degree is obtainable in almost any academic field and the holder is just as entitled you call themselves "Dr" as a medical doctor is. If someone wants the title of doctor, it is a simple process to buy an honorary doctorate online. It's meaningless, a worthless piece of paper, but lots of people do it (just as they buy Lordship or Ladyship titles or plots of land on the moon).
In some countries the standard and length of education required to become a doctor is a lot lower than in the UK, and such qualifications are not necessarily recognised here.

Rosieandtim · 15/04/2017 12:07

If struck off, there is still a record on the GMC, it just says what happened. If registered, they'd be there.
If getting red flags from him, listen.