Doctor fights ban on legal assistance in disciplinary hearings
Shortly after Dr K Kulkarni commenced employment with the Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Trust (the Trust), a female patient complained that he had inappropriately examined her. Dr Kulkarni was excluded pending further investigation. Following the investigation, the Trust initiated disciplinary proceedings in accordance with its disciplinary policy and procedure. This procedure expressly incorporated the Government’s new disciplinary framework: Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS 2005 (MHPS), which removed the pre-existing right for doctors to be legally represented at internal disciplinary proceedings.
