Chiro behaving badly… is the GCC fit for purpose?

This article is worth reading, I think.

It again begs the question whether the GCC is fit for purpose.

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AN ILKLEY chiropractor has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct by the General Chiropractic Council (GCC).

Dr John Rees, who works at Ilkley Chiropractic Clinic, Wilmot House, Railway Road, appeared before the Professional Conduct Committee of the Council at a hearing in London from November 6 to 8. Dr Rees faced allegations in relation to a female patient, known as patient A, who was registered under the care of Mr Rees on various dates between May 20, 2016 and June 10, 2016 and June 11, 2016 and June 15, 2016.

The committee found the admitted particulars proved, however, other, more serious allegations he had been facing, but had always denied, were dropped as there was no reliable evidence to support them. Ms Harris for the GCC told the hearing that notwithstanding the concessions made by the GCC the registrant’s behaviour, even if well received by the patient, was inappropriate, an abuse of the patient-practitioner relationship and the sort of behaviour that brings the profession into disrepute.

Dr Rees was represented at the hearing by Mr Kitching who described the events of 2016 as “a professional disaster for the registrant, an embarrassment which he regretted on a personal and professional level.” Mr Kitching submitted that physical contact with patient A had gone no further than drinks, a kiss, a hug and that the matters were at the lower end of the scale of breaches. He invited the committee to consider patient A had been a willing participant and was both intelligent and mature and could not be considered as vulnerable.

However, the committee determined that Dr Rees’s behaviour “embraced both a risk to the reputation of the profession and also the protection of patients. The committee added: “Whilst much of the behaviour had been consensual the registrant had been in a position of power, he had planned the progression of the relationship and this amounted to serious acts on his behalf.”

The hearing concluded that Dr Rees’s conduct “fell seriously below the standards expected of a chiropractor and that, consequently, Dr Rees is guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.” In making a sanction against Dr Rees the committee noted a wide range of supportive testimonials and references and his previous good character. The committee was satisfied that the misconduct was not “fundamentally incompatible with continued registration”. It imposed the sanction of an admonishment – a formal warning – upon Dr Rees.

Following the hearing Dr Rees told the Gazette: “My professional body has considered all the pertinent facts and come to its decision. The matter is now closed. I would like to thank my patients for their generous support during this difficult period.”

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ADDITIONAL INFO COPIED FROM THE GCC ‘NOTICE OF DECISION’:

• The kiss or attempted kiss was ‘on the lips’.
• Rees gave the patient presents, including a bikini.
• Rees attended patient’s home address.
• Rees seems to have falsified the patient’s case notes and thus ‘acted dishonestly’.
• Rees called the patient ‘an evil loose woman’, ‘a bunny boiler’ and ‘a slapper’.

Do I understand this right? The GCC concluded that “much of the behaviour had been consensual”. To me, this indicates that some of the behaviour was not consensual. How then could the GCC find that Rees’s behaviour was compatible with continued registration?  And how could they imposed merely a formal warning upon Dr Rees?

I fail to comprehend this verdict.

Also I fail to understand why Rees allows himself to be called a ‘doctor’.

And I again ask: IS THE GCC FIT FOR PURPOSE?