A DOCTOR who continued seeing and prescribing for some medical card patients attached to a Co Kerry general practice after she left her job there in fractious circumstances could have put patients at risk as a result of “double prescribing”, a Medical Council inquiry heard yesterday.
The inquiry was told the potential risk arose because the patients were continuing to be prescribed medications by the general practice left by Dr Maria Gordos (54) in June 2008 when her employment was terminated.
She claimed she was unfairly dismissed by the Waterville Medical Centre, run by husband and wife Patricia and Derry Gibson.
She had worked there since 2006.
Dr Gordos, from Hungary, was before the inquiry facing a number of allegations of poor performance and professional misconduct as a result of what occurred.
It was alleged she removed one or more GMS (general medical services) prescribing pads from the Gibsons’ surgery and kept using them until January 2009.
It was also alleged she failed to make inquiries to see if the patients she continued to see from the Gibsons’ practice were also being treated elsewhere, that she put their health and safety at risk, failed to keep adequate medical records and fell short of the standards expected of a doctor.
A complaint in relation to the removal of the prescription pads was made to the Garda, but the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute.
The inquiry also heard the Gibsons went to the Circuit Court in Tralee in 2009 to get an order restraining her from continuing to use their forms. The court issued the restraining order in January 2010.
Dr Patricia Gibson gave evidence that she and her husband were shocked when they discovered in January 2009 that Dr Gordos was writing prescriptions for mainly elderly patients on their medical card list using prescription forms with their GMS contract numbers on them.
They informed their insurers, told the HSE, the Garda, got a court order and informed the Medical Council.
Dr Gordos accepted she wrote 32 prescriptions for medical card patients on the Gibsons’ forms after leaving the practice, but denied the other allegations.
She explained that some of the patients asked her to keep seeing them. Two turned up in a taxi at her home.
She did not charge any of them and she said she did not know the patients were also getting prescriptions from the Gibsons as she and the Gibsons were not on speaking terms.
She also said some of her records in relation to these patients were destroyed in a fire at her Caherciveen home in June 2010 and could not be produced.
When asked by JP McDowell, solicitor for the Medical Council, if she had any regrets about what she had done, she said she did not.
Prof Colin Bradley, professor of general practice at University College Cork, who was called as an expert witness by the council, said a doctor could have prescription pads from a surgery in their bag without “deliberately removing them”.
But he said patients could have been put at risk by two doctors having them on different treatment plans at the same time, or by them both prescribing medications for the same patients at the same time unknown to each other.
Fintan Hurley, counsel for Dr Gordos, submitted it would be irrational and perverse to find against his client and suggested the case could be dealt with by his client undertaking not to repeat the conduct complained of.
He claimed she did not breach any regulations in writing the prescriptions.
After considering the evidence, the fitness to practise committee chaired by Dr Richard Brennan said the committee would accept her undertaking not to repeat the conduct or write prescriptions for any other doctor’s medical card patients without their consent.
Dr Brennan said the committee was, like Prof Bradley, concerned at the potential risk to patients receiving treatment simultaneously from two doctors in the absence of communication between them.