A court has heard how a woman falsely claimed to be a doctor at the scene of an electric bike accident. Joanne Graham stopped her car, treated the casualty and even suggested an air ambulance was needed when an experienced nurse called it "unwarranted".
Graham, 47, of Mount Terrace, Corwen, denied pretending to be a medical practitioner by "wilfully and falsely using the title of doctor" at her trial at Llandudno Magistrates. The court heard she claimed to have numerous qualifications including for "battlefield" treatments and she insisted she had introduced herself as a "trauma medic" after cyclist Martin Jones fell off his bike and ended up two feet down a ditch on the side of Green Lane in Corwen on June 27 last year.
She got two large bags of medical equipment and a clipboard, cut off clothing and fitted the patient with an oxygen mask. But the magistrates said it was clear she had wrongly identified herself as a doctor. They fined her £600. She must also pay £750 costs and a £60 surcharge.
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Prosecutor Adam Warner said Graham had stopped her car that day and offered to help as others did. Witness, Detective Constable David Buckley, who was off duty and walking his dog, told the court: “A blue Land Rover Freelander stopped. A lady in boots, jeans and a shirt got out and said ‘I’m a doctor’ “.
He said he felt “relieved that another medical professional was now on scene.” Another witness Police Constable Bethan Williams, who is DC Buckley’s partner and was also off duty, told the court the defendant "stuck her head out (of her car) and said ‘I’m a doctor, can I assist? ‘ ”
PC Williams told the court she took out “what I perceived to be a red medical bag” containing medical equipment and bandages. Another witness Karen Jones told the court her son, who was with his Uncle Martin - Mr Jones - rang her about her brother's accident. She found her brother, who she said has a prosthetic leg, in a V-shaped ditch.
She told the court that several people were there and the defendant called herself a "trauma doctor". She said she felt relieved someone "so important" was there. She denied in cross examination Graham had called herself a "trauma medic". The court heard Mr Jones had a superficial head injury, which was bleeding, and a fractured wrist. But he was conscious.
Another passerby who stopped was Helen Counsell, a former District Nursing Sister and former Investigations Manager of Serious Incidents at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. She told the court she is "100% sure" the defendant identified herself as a doctor.
She said the defendant cut the clothing over Mr Jones' chest and abdomen but her examination was "cursory". She also suggested they need a "heli" but Mrs Counsell thought that was "not warranted" in her professional opinion. Later, Mrs Counsell spoke to her husband, who is a consultant anaesthetist, about the incident.
The court heard Mrs Counsell phoned PC Williams the following morning to raise her concerns. PC Williams carried out enquiries but couldn't find Graham registered with the General Medical Council. On July 9, police arrested Graham at her home on suspicion of impersonating a doctor.
She told police she denied saying she was "trauma doctor". She cut off Mr Jones' clothes to "check for chest trauma".
Today Graham told Llandudno Magistrates she is an Incident Commander, including being a Site Medic, in a major accident and emergency response team for her employer. She had had a qualification for casualty care in mountain rescue, which expired in 2019, and a life support qualification, which started in 2019.
She told the court: "I slowed down and could see a casualty in a ditch with quite substantial bleeding to the head. I wound the window down and said 'Do you need any medical help, I'm a medic?" She said to others '"Hi, I'm Jo. I'm a medic. I'm from Mountain Rescue."
Her solicitor Cath Jagger asked her: "Did you intimate you were a doctor?
Ms Graham replied: "Never at any point."
Her solicitor asked: Did you want people to think you were more qualified than you actually are?"
"No, not at all."
But prosecutor Adam Warner quoted the University of Cambridge dictionary definition of medic as "a doctor or medical student".
He pointed out four witnesses including two police officers and a retired nurse, all heard her say she was a doctor.
In cross examination, he said: "Are you saying that all four of those witnesses, who independently stated you introduced yourself as a doctor, are you saying they are all wrong?
"Yes."
He asked her if she was "living in a little bit of a fantasy world?"
She denied the claim.
Magistrates chairman David Davies said three independent witnesses were credible in saying she identified herself as a doctor. He said: "We therefore find you guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the charge of pretending to be registered by taking the name or title of a medical practitioner."
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