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

But this is not about her normal working hours. She took this on as an extra shift.

On yes that magical and freely available childcare that’s always an option, and you can choose to have last minute for 20 minutes.

I’m a doctor and no sympathy.

First, the lying and creating false documentations is just wrong.

second, while I sympathise about childcare/school runs (as a mother myself I know it’s hard) - I’ve noticed that people increasingly seem entitled to say “childcare needs” and leave work to take care of their kids. There are some jobs you can do this for - a doctor is not that type of job. That is why paid childcare exists.

i know posters will say I’m envious and I am a bit - having spent large sums on wraparound care, nurseries with long opening hours and nannies. But in the end, there is a choice for everything and the cost of having a career and children means you have to pay for childcare (or have family/friends do it for free).

I hate this public shaming. On the other hand, why on earth did she not pay for after school club or a childminder? It was very ill advised as lying and cheating always are. I do feel so sorry for her though we all make mistakes. I hope she can with support move on from this. How embarrassing. Hope she has a close support network. cringe

The daily mail doesn’t make things up at random it still prints news it’s for from other places.

This. She lied, made up appointments thereby taking appointments available from people that really needed it, falsified records both in the appointment system and in their records. She also therefore left early, don’t forget her last appointment (made up appointment ) was 4.45 pm and took her £60 K part time salary absolutely dire. People needed those appointments. Why didn’t she have a conversation?

When I was a single parent wrap around care was only until 5.30pm for some and the youngest was 6 pm. I had to relocate my job closer and I did, I also had no family support or ex support. Sometimes I could not work and finish on time to get them - so you know what my friend and I who was a GP (also single parent with no family support or ex support) we worked it between us eg she worked Monday 8am- 6 pm so I worked 9am- 5 pm and then dropped off and collected all our kids from school and nursery and yes it was a hassle and we both needed bigger cars but we made it work. On Wednesdays I worked 8am- 6 pm and she did drop off and pick up. Financially it was crap and stressful but I did what we all have to do but I did not miss meetings appointments etc.
Otherwise I could not of worked that position and job end of. My employees and hers knew this and knew what we were doing between us.

You would seriously want a lying GP who falsified and made up records to be your GP?

There was one day I remember clearly that my youngest son wasn’t in school and had no childcare neither my friends or I could have him. No local friends and no family available so I took the day off unpaid as annual leave and looked after all the kids so she could work - on another day same situation with her son we both worked - and he came to work as a practice manager wanted her to do some extra day and appointments with her came with agreement and he played in the office and he was happy to watch TV and staff were happy to rotate to do paperwork whilst he played but this was solely with everyone’s agreement and request for her to do an extra day and no one took the proverbial they wanted her in and that was the only way it could happen.

1. She took it on as an extra shift due to wanting the extra cash, she didnt have to work that late.
2. On a GP salary she could have easily employed a nanny to deal with pick ups
3. How would you feel if fake GP visits were on your medical record?

That's not really the point here is it? She lied and falsified records. She took and extra locum shift that she couldn't cover.

Well then don't take the (very well paid) locum shift.

‘Only a GP’??
Thats one way to get a brag in about your own ‘corporate leadership role’ whilst managing to denigrate what is a very challenging job at the same time 🙄

Exactly. If they were her regular working hours and she'd been denied any flexibility and support I might have felt differently. She chose to be greedy and commit fraud and thought she'd get away with it. She only stopped lying when she had no alternative.

Is it that you don't see a problem with her committing fraud, or they she should be held to different standards because she's 'a mother'? 🙄

You think it's ok for her to have agreed to take an extra locum shift, which is very nicely paid, even though she knew she couldn't cover it properly?

Did she actually take on an extra shift or was she actually a locum instead of a salaried GP? So if was in fact her usual working hours?

I work in a GP surgery and a couple of the doctors do this every shift. They don’t even do a school run. Nothing can be said as they are the partners

Why was she put in a situation where she was so worried that her kids would be left in an empty school? And what made her resort to lying about it? I can’t imagine she jumped straight to lying, I think it’s likely it spiralled into lying because she had no other choice
So if it was your child she claimed to have seen and as result, the practice refuse an appointment for them the day after and your child end up very ill as a result, would you also say it was okay because she had no choice?

And would you say the same if the doctor was a man? I bet not!

This whole trend of 'let sympathise with women's plea no matter what' is really doing no favours to the rights of women.

It’s good that she was struck off. I wouldn’t want anyone I know or love to be treated by someone that can cheat the system so easily and then lie about it. Doctors need to have honesty and integrity, and she has neither.

It’s not public shaming - as at least one person on here says - it’s a NEWS story.

Hopefully she’s struck off. She lied, stole from us (the tax payers). How many people couldn’t get appointments because of her actions? Even one person is one too many.

A GP who I knew through the school gate worked part time but this still meant her DS was picked up from after school club a babysitter as her shift didn't finish in time. I know what she did was wrong but I also know she would have been between a rock and a hard place.

Please op, tell us this is a wind up on your part.

The lazy money grabber wanted to have her cake and eat it, probably thinking the world owes her a living because she has children. Unfortunately it's a common belief in the NHS these days with people not putting proper child care plans in place, and believing they have a right to take fantastic amounts of time off because their child is unwell/their mum can't cope/their husband's job is too important.

Luckily this time it could be punished.

If you put her name into Google the hearing and findings details come up. As said her unual working day finished at 5, she opted for overtime. She admitted that her workplace was supportive and there was no pressure to cover the extra shifts. She just failed to sort out childcare. She'd been at the practice for six years before the first known incident. The suspension was appropriate. As far as I can find, she's still going to be paid during the suspension.

"She had chosen that day to undertake additional locum session work, but she had not made an appropriate fallback provision for childcare"

Pretty clear cut.

She falsified records. She deserves the suspension. As she said, she’s let the profession down.

So the alternative is lie and falsify records?

She hasn’t been struck off, she’s been suspended for six months.