A doctor accused of taking £100,000 from an out-of-hours GP service and being 125 miles away from sick patients while he was supposed to be on duty will be grilled by a new panel when his tribunal resumes on Wednesday.

The investigation into Ravi Sondhi’s conduct was put on hold last week after it emerged one of the panel members was a director of an out-of-hours service in Lincolnshire and other limited companies. He has been replaced by a new panellist and the hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester will continue.

The 52-year-old must defend accusations he took advantage of his position as financial director of Croydoc, which was launched in the mid-1990s and covers nearly one million patients in Croydon, Sutton, Kingston and Merton.

Dr Sondhi, a GP at Portland Medical Centre in South Norwood, was allegedly at his home in Fakenham, Norfolk, when patients needed him. They were forced to go to hospital because he could not be reached.

Dr Sondhi, who also owned a number of care homes, is fighting misconduct charges. His case looks set to go beyond its deadline of 26 July, with an adjournment likely on Friday.

The doctor faces being struck off the medical register or suspended if he is found guilty of misconduct.

Source

Press Association

Source date

23 July 2013

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