Doctor suspended after drink driving on school run

A GP convicted of drink driving after crashing into parked cars outside a school has been suspended from her profession for six months.

Dr Kate Eve was arrested and charged with the offence after the accident on 3 July 2024, which took place while she was dropping a child off.

The GP, who has worked at the York Street Health Practice in Leeds since 2015, told a tribunal in December she had earlier "consumed most of a 250ml bottle of vodka" before driving to the school.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel heard Eve was convicted of the offence at Leeds Magistrates' Court on 19 July 2024 and sentenced to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

She was required to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work within one year and disqualified from driving for three years.

Eve, who previously worked at The Ridge Medical Practice in Bradford, told the tribunal that she accepted full responsibility for her actions, adding "an apology was not a big enough word".

The GP told the panel she "could have killed someone" and said she "visualised people having being killed in accidents" when she was near the school.

She said it was "unlikely" she would ever drive again.

"An immediate order is necessary in this case in order to properly protect, promote and maintain the health, safety, and wellbeing of the public," the tribunal concluded.

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