To feel very sorry for this doctor

[runningpram]

I feel the way this lady has been treated is appalling.
Obviously this wasn’t the right thing to do but she wasn’t leaving early and there was no patient detriment. Why were her managers not supporting her better?
Why on earth could not this have been sorted out within the practise without a formal disciplinary process? As a working mum I really feel for her. Could someone medical shed light on why this would have been blown up into such an issue?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15422147/amp/GP-faked-medical-appointments-work-not-late-afternoon-school-run-suspended-practising-5-months.html

The fact that an educated, ostensibly respectable and intelligent woman lied and to get away with those lies, falsified patients' permanent medical records, so that she would not be troubled by a couple of actual sick people during her (well) paid shift on the off chance they might need more than ten minutes - and then claims that she's a helpless mummy who had no choice - that's what sets back women's access to work and many careers back decades.

The receptionist wouldn't have been able to do it, much less get away with closing the doors and ignoring the phones during their working hours so they could guarantee nobody bothered them by needing medical help in the last hour of the day. The phlebotomist or nurse wouldn't have been able to pretend they had patients in with them to avoid having to see real ones. The cleaner wouldn't have been able to pretend that they were mopping the upper waiting room floor.

I have no issue with making childcare more available and affordable for all families but lets not pretend this is a problem unique to GPs or that GPs are not relatively privileged in having the resources to deal with the problem by comparison with eg gig economy and low wage workers.

We paid out the extra for flexible childcare which was needed due to work demands which are commonplace in well paid professional jobs. Others posting on this thread describe doing similar currently. Why on earth should this woman have not done the same? This was not even an emergency unplanned situation - she took on scheduled work without bothering to arrange an extra hour of childcare to cover that work.

I can't feel that sorry for this woman. Being a doctor is a job that carries huge responsibilities for the safety of others. She is not the only person with children and, even though she worked part time, I imagine her salary was better than most part-timers. She should have made arrangements to pay someone for emergency cover.

They're the ones who encourage people to lie and go off sick on here.

Usual suspects who like to get paid for doing bare minimum.

I remember asking someone who'd advised an OP to get signed off, if she'd be saying that if OP was a doctor and it meant a sick child would have to wait longer to be seen.
Lots of selfish people.

Locum shifts are paid extra. Lied about appointments which genuine patients could have really needed. Then FALSIFIED MEDICAL RECORDS - that is really serious and it's amazing she wasn't struck off.

She's in a profession based on trust and integrity. She has access to extremely sensitive data and thought it OK to falsify data and then lie about it. For a year!

I absolutely would not trust or want that person as my GP. If she thinks it's ok to falsify a person's records for a school run, what else may she falsify? If she had no childcare, why did she book the locum duties?

She had so many 'options'. Call in sick, says there's been a family emergency or - tell the truth and explain her situation.

Totally unacceptable. No sympathy. Lies followed by manipulation, more lies and denial. The initial lies were maybe due to her lack of sleep and stress but her actions after the fact are the most worrying.

Well, it was well known between my circle of friends that a GP role is for the lowest performing medical students. Not met a decent GP yet to be fair. My GP tried to put me on medication that could kill me - needed it pointing out to them and they said, and I quote, oh, well, it has been a long day.

Surely without working at all someone would have no issue collecting their children on time? Are you completely oblivious to the number of women who give up their careers or work completely or work way below their skill level just in order to be able to do things such as collect their children on time. Many people work wholly or partly on a locum, bank or agency basis for many reasons, not to necessarily earn more money then people doing the same job on a substantive basis or to earn extra money just for frivolous things. I was very fortunate that I was able to get a flexible working substantive contract that meant I can balance home and family life but if that were not the case I would be working on a locum basis. My responsibilities mean it’s difficult for me to work more than very part time hours and if my husband did not earn a good salary then maybe I would feel more pressure to fill spare shifts and if asked and could possibly help then I probably would anyway. I think everyone accepts she made an error of judgement but it is not a situation she should of been put in the first place

Please do tell me who these people are you can pay for emergency cover or childcare after 6pm?

Well, when I was a band 4 admin in the NHS, the childminder did it every day and when I got caught in a snowstorm, she kept DD until 8.15pm (when her father managed to get there, as I was still stuck on public transport).

It was the advantage of using a childminder, rather than the ASC.

To be honest working in the healthcare field she would likely have had to have entered very specific clinical information for that to be the case. If I were assessing a patient who had apparently been seen earlier, however certain reassuring observations or specific information was not recorded, then that would very much be informing my decisions

You were very fortunate to have such a childminder who provided regular emergency childcare, this certainly isn’t a common facility. I’ve employed the services of alot of childminders over the years in different areas of the country and very few would even agree to occasionally work past 6pm even with prior notice. She wouldn’t have had a choice but to continue to care for the children if you were physically unable to get to them,

What

It is an key element of parenting that we have to organise our childcare to cover our working hours.

Most people understand that they cannot neglect to do this and cancel patient slots to make up for that fact.

Was her shift not meant to have finished in time for her to collect her children? What about the dishonesty of asking her to potentially see patients at a time when there was a likelihood that she then would not finish on time?

Plenty of jobs don't allow you to walk off the pitch when then clock strikes, so a degree of contingency needs to be baked in.

No, they simply need to have not scheduled 2 appointment slots at a time of day when this significantly increased the risk of her finishing late

No. Covering those slots were part and parcel of the locum shift she was being paid for, so if she couldn't cover them, then she shouldn't have taken the shift. These were patient appointments that were denied to people.

If I’ve understood correctly she booked in a few end of day telephone slots for patients rhat had already been seen so she could be sure to leave on time. So no one was put in danger.Yes she shouldn’t have done it and should perhaps have been strict about finishing at 4.45 and no later when she took the job. She’s a mother and we have no idea of her financial position or anxieties about being there for her children . Yes she’s a GP but she’s a human being first and foremost and we all make bad decisions sometimes.It was a fault and of course she should be reprimanded but having her name and face all over the press is just terrible and unwarranted.

If the woman was a locum, she may have struggled to find a childminder who can cover on an ad-hoc basis

i feel bad for her. Its hard juggling parenting and a career

@NeverDropYourMooncup
presumably you had a permanent contract and weren’t a temp!

I'm afraid you have not understood correctly.

She falsified a patients records to show that she had seen and examined that patient when she had not done so. This showed a reckless disregard for that patient's safety. That is why she has been suspended and has her name and photo all over the press.

This! She falsified patient records. That is very serious. It's not as though she faked sickness to get out of the shift, which I would have had more sympathy for.

I said upthread that I used to be a social worker and there is no way I would ever have falsified records. It's drummed into us that we have professional standards to adhere to. Drs are in the same position.

I totally agree that employers need to be more flexible regarding support for working parents but that doesn't mean it's ok to falsify patient records. I can't believe people are condoning this.

From the article:

‘The part-time locum GP made up two face-to-face appointments relating to patients with whom had telephone consultations earlier that day so she could leave by her normal 4.45pm finishing time, a tribunal heard.

She knew that neither appointment was required as she had already undertaken telephone consultations with both patients earlier that day, the tribunal herars’

Because she was dishonest. As a GP it us not a characteristic which can or should be tolerated.

The Daily Mail glosses over the fact that she falsified patient records. You can read the full decision of the tribunal at Dr Helen EISENHAUER Dec 25 - MPTS. This makes it clear that she admitted falsifying patient B's records.