Anger after probe GP allowed back to Ramsgate surgery
- Published
More than 20 patients at a surgery in Ramsgate, Kent, have complained after a doctor who was investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) was told he could return there to work.
Dr Nagy Gabriel, a partner at Dashwood Medical Centre, was at the centre of an inquiry which began in March 2012.
The investigation, over "patient safety concerns", found he could return to the surgery as a GP but with 22 conditions.
Dr Gabriel said he would comply to "improve his standard of practice".
Address deficiencies
The surgery, which has about 8,000 patients under four doctors, has received 21 complaints, many after an open meeting was held in May.
Some of the patients have threatened to leave the practice if he starts working there again.
Dr Gabriel said in a statement: "I am complying fully with the GMC's undertakings and working closely with NHS England to improve the standard of my practice.
"I am not currently working at Dashwood House Medical Practice.
"Wherever I work my aim is to provide patients with the best possible care."
Among the 22 undertakings, some of which have to be met before he can return, are that Dr Gabriel should be subject to a development plan to address deficiencies in assessment of patients' conditions, providing and arranging treatment and his relationships with patients.
There should also be close supervision of Dr Gabriel's day-to-day work; he should not work as a locum or undertake any out-of-hours work or on-call duties and he should have a mentor.
At the open evening, held at the Grange Road surgery in May, another partner Dr Michael Cardwell said Dr Gabriel had not been in practice for two-and-half-years due to "patient safety concerns".
The surgery received many of the complaints, of which 13 were written and eight verbal, after the meeting.
One patient, Avril Chalk, told BBC South East: "I don't want the surgery to take him back.
"I think there would be a protest outside or something."
In a statement, Dashwood Medical Centre, said: "If his GMC undertakings are followed, any future working arrangements would be a decision for the partnership of the practice.
"We can confirm we have received a number of complaints from our patients, all of which have been forwarded to the GMC."
The GMC said it would not discuss details of doctors which were not in the public domain.
Correction 9th November 2022: An earlier version of this article reported that Dr Nagy Gabriel had been suspended and on the 7th August 2019 this line was removed from the story after the General Medical Council confirmed they had not suspended Dr Gabriel.