Struck-off patient criticises GP

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/7924225.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A seriously ill man has criticised a GP who struck him off his list of patients without telling him.

Ian Thompson, of Coventry, is awaiting a lung transplant and is kept alive by a combination of 25 drugs.

He said he only found out he had been struck off from Wyken Medical Centre after asking for a repeat prescription.

Dr Moinuddin Sabhani said there were other GP practices nearer Mr Thompson's home. But NHS Coventry said Dr Sabhani should have informed it of the change.

It said it was sorry for the distress caused and that Dr Sabhani had not followed the correct procedure.

'He's dying'

Mr Thompson, a former judo champion, said his wife had spoken to the medical practice because he was too unwell to speak to them.

"She said, 'what have we done?' and they said, 'nothing, the doctor wants to reduce his hours'," Mr Thompson said.

"She said, 'you can't do that, he's dying'.

"I just panicked. I didn't know where to go and it took a while for both of us to get our senses together. We weren't offered any apology."

Mr Thompson has since changed his doctor.

NHS Coventry said it had written to GPs to remind them of the correct process for deregistering patients.