A disgraced doctor found guilty of neglecting a mu

A disgraced doctor found guilty of neglecting a mum because his kids were using his computer – even though she was coughing up blood and feeling ‘near death’ – is awaiting to find out whether he will be struck off.

Dr Edwin Kirubairatnam, 62, was found guilty of ‘a catalogue of failures’ in his treatment of Mrs Doreen Cooper in March this year when he was already under investigation by medical watchdogs.

In an unusual step he asks to be struck off the register on health grounds – but may be refused as regulations allowing doctors to ban themselves from practising can only be made if they are fully registered.

Dr Kirubairatnam was ordered to retrain after the GMC ruled last year he had committed serious professional conduct when he ignored calls to visit two seriously ill elderly patients.

Sarah Vaughan-Jones, for the GMC, said in the most recent case, Mrs Cooper, 65, begged Dr Kirubairatnam to refer her to a specialist chest clinic as she felt she was dying.

But last December she was told that to do so was not convenient even though she had waited two months for the referral.

‘His response was that his children were using the computer, his secretary was on holiday and he was busy,’ Miss Vaughan Jones said.

The GP knew from the results of an X-ray that Mrs Cooper was either suffering from tuberculosis or a tumour in her lung.

He later promised he would write but he failed to do so.

Eventually, Mrs Cooper did get the specialist treatment she needed, but only after her one of her daughters, Jackie Andrews, took up her case with the doctor.

‘In the light of all the information available to you at that time, Mrs Cooper required an urgent referral for specialist investigation and treatment,’ the GMC ruled.

Although the doctor was found guilty of ‘a catalogue of failures in the standard of care’ in the case of Mrs Cooper he was not struck off as his blunders occurred during his conditional registration.

But after some complex legal debate, the GMC is
considering whether to allow the doctor to voluntarily leave the profession or whether it should strike him off.

The GP, among other medical conditions, said he has a heart condition – which has required an angioplasty as well as a torn ligament.

Dr Kirubairatnam was originally found guilty in March 1999 of four charges of neglecting two OAPs who telephoned him for treatment; Phillip Brett, of (13) Glynde St, Crofton Park and another pensioner whose name has been withheld.

In relation to those four charges, the GMC ruled the doctor be subject to a programme of retraining and undertake a final assessment.

But before this period was over, between 21 October 1999 and January 2000, the GP was found guilty of seven further allegations, including failing to make an urgent referral, ignoring several inquiries from Mrs Cooper as to her referrral in November and December 1999, prescribing antibiotics instead of making an urgent referral, and not informing Mrs Cooper on 20 December she had ‘active pulmonary tuberculosis’.

Since that finding, the doctor has been subject to restrictions from practising for a further six months.

Hearing continues.

ends