By CAROLINE INNES
A MERSEYSIDE doctor was suspended just weeks before hewas due to retire.
Dr Javaid Iqbal, of the Halewood Health Centre, was barred from practising on July 24 by the General Medical Council (GMC).
He was due to retire on September 1 after 43 years’ service within the NHS.
The GMC today confirmed Dr Iqbal, of Woolton, was suspended pending an investigation into complaints against him.
Details of the allegations and who made them have not been revealed.
But a GMC spokesman said: “The interim orders panel considered it was necessary for the protection of members of the public, in the public interest and in Dr Iqbal’s own interest to make an order suspending his registration for 18 months.”
Dr Iqbal, who trained at Pakistan’s Punjab university, shares the Roseheath Drive practice with his wife, Dr Dure Iqbal.
No action is being taken against her and she continues to practise there.
Today, health officials vowed not to let patient care suffer as a result of Dr Javaid Iqbal’s suspension and said a new doctor will take over on September 1.
A spokesman for Knowsley primary care trust said: “We can confirm Dr Iqbal was suspended by the interim orders panel of the GMC for a period of 18 months.
“We have been in contact with Dr Iqbal’s practice to ensure the needs of his patients are met while he is suspended.”
Dr Iqbal said the GMC panel sat while he was on holiday and he returned to find he had been suspended.
He has taken legal advice about the lawfulness of the panel sitting in his absence.
Dr Iqbal said: “I am so upset about all of this. I would give my right arm for my patients.
“I believe the primary care trust has a vendetta against me because I have been on at them about the way they run things.
“It will be shown I have done nothing but try to do my best for my patients and my name will be cleared.”
The PCT would not comment on his claim.
(c) 2008 Liverpool Echo. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Comments