GP reinstated after suspension for false bookings to pick up children

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By Daniel Pye

A GP can return to practice after being suspended for booking false appointments to leave work on time.

Dr Helen Eisenhauer was given a five-month suspension last year for making up face-to-face appointments for two patients she had had telephone consultations with earlier in the day so she could pick up her children.

She added false details to the notes of one of the patient two days later, which the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service concluded put patients at risk and amounted to serious misconduct.

But a return to practice review found Eisenhauer’s reflections in her period of suspension to be “genuine, sincere and meaningful” and her returning to practice posed no risk to the public.

Eisenhauer’s case prompted a debate on whether doctors have a right to leave on time and the challenges of juggling family life and work.

The GP, who worked at Strenhouse Medical Centre in Arnold in a locum role, said last year she was “mortified, horrified and ashamed” at her conduct which was brought on by the stress of balancing the demands of her young family with her professional commitments.