Doctors raise concerns about possible discriminatory action against trainee who was suspended after patient complaint

A decision to suspend a junior doctor from the medical register for falsely recording that she had carried out a physical examination on a patient has raised concerns about possible discriminatory treatment of doctors from ethnic minorities.

Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has written to the General Medical Council about the case of Nithya Pandian, who was suspended after a medical practitioners tribunal concluded that she had lied about examining a patient.

Pandian, who qualified in India in 2010, was suspended for two months after the tribunal decided it was more likely than not that, contrary to her notes, she had failed to examine Patient A four years ago at Kettering General Hospital.

Patient A went to the emergency department in May 2019 with concerns about her blood pressure. Pandian wrote in her notes, cardiovascular …