Top doc vows to clear name after 'witch-hunt'

Oct 28 2007

ONE of Britain's most successful doctors is calling for an inquiry into the General Medical Council over a "witch-hunt" which she says threatened to destroy her career.

Through her private practice in Knighton, Powys, she has led the way in seeking to treat the causes of ills through a combination of conventional medicine and herbal and homoeopathic techniques.

Her approach has won her a client list boasting a list of celebrity names, believed to include Jemima Goldsmith.

But for the past five years, she has fought a fierce battle against the GMC following what she sees as a “witch-hunt” to destroy her career.

Since November 2002, Dr Myhill says she has lived in fear of having her career torn to shreds as part of a probe into her practices by the GMC, launched after five doctors complained about her style of work.

Dr Myhill, 49, was facing a 13-day GMC hearing next February into claims that she:

nPut babies at risk over her “support” for claims that cot death is caused by fire retardants in mattresses;

nlied on a job application form for a GP job at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital;

nacted outside her area of expertise;

nand made diagnoses over the telephone.

But now, Dr Myhill – who believes healthy sleep patterns can help to cure depression – has vowed to take action against the GMC after having all the allegations made against her dropped.

The news comes as Dr Myhill recovers from neck and head injuries following a horse riding accident. She was out on a hunt meeting in Banbury, Oxfordshire, last weekend when she fell from her horse, sustaining serious neck and shoulder injuries.

Although her injuries are not life-threatening, friends say she will need further hospital treatment before she is released.

But despite being laid up, Dr Myhill – who has had the backing of more than 900 patients – has vowed to clear her name.

Her friends are also demanding an independent investigation into the conduct of the GMC, by pressuring MPs and the House of Lords for an inquiry.

Last week the GMC refused to comment on Dr Myhill’s complaint and declined to confirm whether the doctor was facing a GMC investigation.

A spokeswoman said: “No public information has been released about any complaints made. Therefore, we cannot comment. We cannot release any information that may be confidential against the doctor.”

But Dr Myhill has refused to take the GMC’s statement lying down.

Speaking through her website, she said: “I was lined up for a 13-day hearing in February and this has now been cancelled. I have to say this is a huge relief. Whilst I knew I had done no wrong, it is not easy living with the threat.

“The complaints against me are all from doctors who do not like my style of practice. No patient had been harmed, nor put at risk, nor was there any question of malpractice.

“It was simply that the doctors involved objected to my style of practice and the allergy, environmental, nutritional approach to medicine.”

Dr Myhill, who was facing solicitors’ fees of £200,000 and the prospect of professional ruin, said: “The exact reasons why the allegations have been dropped have yet to be given to me.

“The GMC is legally obliged to give me these reasons and I shall press them until they do. At this stage they have simply said they are dropping the allegations.

“However, there is no doubt that a large part of that reason is because of the many wonderful letters that patients have written to the GMC on my behalf.

“The GMC has sent me copies of those letters and there are many hundreds of them. They are the most extraordinary letters – intelligent, incisive, authoritative and down to earth.

“They really were the sort of letters that the GMC could not possibly ignore. I have no doubt in my mind that this put great pressure on the GMC to look at the allegations against me in a new light. Having done so, they dropped them all.”

Despite the allegations being ditched, Dr Myhill is furious over claims that some of her patients’s records were taken by the GMC without permission.

She said: “There are many other issues that have arisen out of this GMC issue, not least of all is how badly many of my patients have been dealt with by the GMC.

“For example, with some of my patients their confidential medical GP records have been obtained without their knowledge, in all cases confidential medical GP records have been obtained without patients being informed of their legal right to appeal, and in some cases confidential medical GP records have been obtained without being anonymised.

“There are many other indiscretions that the GMC have been guilty of and I shall continue to pursue these on behalf of all of us.”

A spokeswoman for Dr Myhill said: “We are unhappy about the way this entire matter has been handled by the GMC and associated parties, and hope to persuade the relevant authorities to investigate this matter fully.”