Trainee GP suspended for writing own prescription

A trainee GP has been suspended for five months after writing a prescription for himself.

A medical tribunal heard that pharmacy staff were suspicious when Dr Callum Metcalfe walked into a pharmacy in Bangor, Gwynedd, with a handwritten note.

The hearing was told that he had legitimately been prescribed the medication, but his supplies had run out while visiting friends in north Wales over new year 2022.

The tribunal ruled that this incident, together with a drink driving conviction, meant he had to be immediately suspended.

Dr Metcalfe, 29, had qualified as a doctor in 2019, and was training as a GP, having done placements at Bron Meirion surgery in Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd.

In early January 2022, he was working for the South Tees Hospitals trust in north-east England, but was in north Wales visiting a friend to help with a DIY project.

A two-week hearing of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard that Dr Metcalfe went to the Tesco Pharmacy in Bangor and presented a handwritten prescription.

The prescription had his name and signature on it as the prescribing doctor, but the name of a different person as the patient.

He told pharmacy staff that he was that patient.

Later that day, he telephoned the pharmacy, this time saying he was Dr Metcalfe, and claiming that he was trying to help a friend out while the GP surgery was closed over the new year holiday period.

Pharmacy staff reported a suspicious prescription, and Dr Metcalfe also referred himself to the General Medical Council (GMC) later that month.

But while Dr Metcalfe was being investigated by the GMC, he found himself in the criminal courts, where he was banned and fined for drink driving.

Claire Lindley, chair of the medical tribunal said: "On 16 May 2023, the police reported that Dr Metcalfe was found asleep in his car on a petrol station forecourt at 10:25 pm."

"He was slumped over the steering wheel, the engine was running, and there was a half empty bottle of whiskey between his legs."

Dr Metcalfe admitted all the charges against him at the medical tribunal.

He told the hearing that the stress of the GMC investigation had led him to make an error of judgement, and that he was determined to learn from his mistakes with the prescription.

In a statement he said: "I now understand that my actions not only breached the trust placed in me as a doctor but also have undermined confidence in the medical profession as a whole.

The tribunal took place mainly behind closed doors, but a written record of its conclusions has now been released.

Tribunal chair Claire Lindley added: "Dr Metcalfe's misconduct and conviction were serious.

"The tribunal was satisfied that this conduct, especially the dishonesty, would be regarded as deplorable by fellow practitioners and would undermine public confidence in the profession.

"A period of five months' suspension (sends) out a clear message to the profession that both the misconduct and a conviction of this nature is unacceptable."