A family GP has been suspended for ''over-egging'' a request she made for a new NHS work laptop to help her treat patients. Dr Manjula Arora, 58, was reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) after she wrongly told IT officials she had been ''promised'' the device by her boss when, in fact, he ''noted her interest'' in getting one.
Dr Arora, who was working in Manchester as a locum practitioner for out-of-hours provider Mastercall, was subjected to a 15-month inquiry following her remark. It culminated in her facing an eight day disciplinary hearing and being found guilty of dishonesty, serious professional misconduct and ''impaired'' ability to practise medicine.
Yesterday, May 25, a row broke out after Dr Arora - who qualified 35 years ago and who is described as a woman with ''strong moral principles'' - was banned from treating patients for a month. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service said suspension would ''send a message that her misconduct, albeit relating to a single fleeting moment of dishonesty was not acceptable.''
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But Professor Sam Shah, who worked as Director of Digital Development at NHS England said: "This case reflects an oppressive and punitive culture in the NHS driven by top-down targets in an underfunded and poorly designed system. Remote working to get the best out of the workforce was encouraged for the last two years and allegedly championed in urgent care. It is disappointing that this case turns on a laptop.''
The saga began in December 2019 after Dr Arora who lives in Hale Barns, near Altrincham, exchanged emails with Stockport -based Mastercall's Medical Director about getting a work laptop to assist with her duties.
In his response on Christmas Eve, the boss who was referred to as Dr B at the hearing told her: “We don’t have any laptops at present, but I will note your interest when the next roll out happens. Technology is advancing, we may soon be able to allow clinicians to use their own computers, watch this space.”
But trouble came on 30 December, 2019, when Dr Arora spoke to an IT Support Analyst at Mastercall and referred to her email exchange about the laptop with Dr B. She told the analyst: ''He said the next time it’s available he’ll give it to me, so you have laptops and I thought it’s best that I take one because I don’t want too many people to be involved, just him and you directly. It’s [Dr B] who has promised it. Will you be able to speak to him directly, we talked about the laptop.''
Dr Arora, whose husband is a consultant surgeon, was referred for investigation in February 2020 after Dr B learned of her discussion with the analyst. For the GMC, lawyer Carl Hargan said the word ''promise'' was “a world away” from Dr B’s actual words'', adding: ''What Dr Arora was trying to do was obvious in that she was trying to get a computer.
''The analyst thought Dr B had authorised one and that he could therefore give her one. No other clinician had ever approached him in the way that Dr Arora had done.''
Mr Hargan said Dr B's email was “entirely unambiguous”, and could not “in any way, shape or form” amount to him ''promising'' her a laptop and he went on: ''Dr Arora has brought the medical profession into disrepute and her integrity cannot be relied upon.'
In evidence to the Manchester hearing Dr B said Dr Arora was not “at the top of the list” for requests and said his Christmas Eve message was a “holding email”. He said he “didn’t want to give negative messages ahead of the busiest time of the year” although he said Dr Arora would not necessarily be refused a laptop.
Dr Arora said in a statement: ''I accept that I perhaps interpreted [Dr B’s] words ‘note your interest’ as something more definite than he actually meant.
''I think the word 'promised’ was not appropriate and maybe it was not the word I should have used, but I thought he wanted to give it to me. It’s the connotation that I had taken from it. I said he has promised it because I took it to mean he intended to give me a laptop”.
Dr Arora's lawyer, Mr Alan Jenkins, said: ''Dr Arora had not set out hoping to gain anything that she would not have gained anyway. It was not an operative deception and that any dishonesty was the result of a slight exaggeration.
''She interpreted Dr B's email as a “thumbs up” and her position is that if she had been told she was not going to get a laptop we wouldn’t be here now.''
He added: ''Whilst Dr Arora has perhaps ‘over-egged’ her claim that Dr B had promised her a laptop, she is not a dishonest person, just someone who merely said a single dishonest thing. She does not pose a risk to the public.''
In suspending Dr Arora, MPTS chairman Mr Peter Schofield said: ''The tribunal had regard to her good character, and to the testimonials it had received on her behalf. It accepted, in general terms, that she was not a dishonest person.
''But with specific reference to her use of the word ‘promised’, the tribunal concluded that it was more likely than not that Dr Arora exaggerated the position in order to reinforce her request for a laptop. As she herself accepted, it was not appropriate to use that word and she should not have said what she did. Ordinary, decent people would consider her use of the word ‘promised’ as dishonest.
''The tribunal concluded that a short period of suspension this period of suspension would send an appropriate message to the medical profession and to the wider public that Dr Arora’s misconduct, albeit relating to a single fleeting moment of dishonesty and not a planned deception, was not acceptable and that this period of suspension would adequately reflect the seriousness of her behaviour.''
Dr Chandra Kanneganti, President of the British International Doctors Association, said: "This is an exaggerated response, just because of wording used to obtain a laptop for work purposes and more importantly the unsafe nature of workloads the doctors and most GPs have to face most days. BIDA will fully support Dr Arora if she is planning to appeal this disproportionate response."
"It is not just a travesty of justice or a waste of time and energy of the GMC, but much worse is the demoralising impact on the doctors and wider medical professionals," added Dr Ramesh Mehta President of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
"We have known that some of the GMC representatives are bent on punishing doctors whatever the facts of the case. We have raised this issue with the GMC."
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