GP suspended for drug-taking can return to work

A doctor who was suspended for a year for being on drugs while seeing patients has been allowed to return to the profession.

Nathan Sandles was found acting "drowsy, sleepy and disorientated" while on shift at Church Langley Medical Centre in Harlow, Essex.

The GP had prescribed medication for himself by falsely using a patient's name, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal heard last year.

A review hearing, held last month, determined Dr Sandles' "fitness to practise was not impaired by reason of misconduct and conviction".

In December 2021 at North Essex Magistrates' Court, Dr Sandles admitted to using a false prescription for a scheduled drug with intent.

He was sentenced to an 18-month Community Order on 3 February 2022 at Chelmsford Crown Court, and required to do 140 hours of unpaid work.

However, four months later he prescribed drugs to a patient but took the medication himself, which breached conditions.

He was suspended by a tribunal in June last year.

On behalf of the General Medical Council (GMC), Mairi-Clare McMillan told the review hearing that during this suspension Dr Sandles stated that he "has had the opportunity to seriously and carefully consider the observations and understands the concerns and criticisms of the 2024 tribunal and the GMC".

She also observed that Dr Sandles sincerely apologised and expressed regret that he allowed the situation to arise more than once and had noted the negative impact that this had on others.

She said he had also made amends with colleagues and one of the pharmacists he had deceived, and Dr Sandles said he "found this profoundly humbling and cathartic".

On behalf of Dr Sandles, Rebecca Harris, KC, said her client "continues to acknowledge and accept responsibility and apologises for how serious the actions were that brought him before his regulatory body and in front of the 2024 tribunal".

She said he should be allowed to return to clinical practice in due course, and reminded the panel that the previous tribunal found that it would also be in the public interest to allow an otherwise good and experienced doctor to remain on the register

In relation to the risk of repetition, Ms Harris said that there was now a support network in place for Dr Sandles and he now had "strategies and coping mechanisms embedded into his life".

In a statement, Dr Sandles said: "I have spent the last year reflecting carefully on the outcome of last year's tribunal and my misconduct on both a personal and professional level."

He stated he fully understood "the impact my actions had on my patients, the profession, the regulator, the public and me and my family".

The tribunal found the risk of further misconduct and criminal behaviour was negligible and concluded "that Dr Sandles' fitness to practise is not impaired by reason of misconduct and conviction".

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