Doctor suspended for failure to provide documents

A doctor who failed to comply with a requirement to provide documents has been suspended from practising.

Dr Joseph Rugemintwaza, who qualified as a doctor at the National University of Rwanda in 2002, was working at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shropshire when concerns were raised.

After a clinical performance assessment found performance was poor in areas of his practice, the General Medical Council (GMC) contacted Rugemintwaza for necessary documentation, but he failed to supply it.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) determined that non-compliance was found and Rugemintwaza was suspended for 12 months.

Dr John Jones, responsible officer at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, had referred the matter to the GMC after the performance assessment was carried out on 23 June 2023.

The assessment had found that performance was poor in areas of his practice, including assessment of patient's condition, clinical management and infection control.

The GMC first contacted Rugemintwaza on 3 March via email.

After the doctor confirmed his contact details, the GMC representative called him the following day to confirm that the necessary documentation would be emailed, including a Work Details Form that had to be completed and returned by 12 March.

Rugemintwaza confirmed receipt of the documents on 6 March, but expressed confusion regarding the date the form needed to be returned by, and the date of an upcoming Interim Orders Tribunal hearing.

The dates were clarified by the GMC and a reminder was sent on 13 March after Rugemintwaza failed to complete the form, with the deadline extended by a week.

Further correspondence between the GMC and Rugemintwaza ensued over the next three months.

After being told that Rugemintwaza would complete the forms "the next day" after responding on 6 June , the GMC asked that they be received no later than 9 September.

However, after Rugemintwaza failed to communicate with them any further, the GMC escalated the matter and a referral was made to the MPTS for non-compliance.

The panel was not persuaded by Rugemintwaza's explanation that he did not understand the form or how to complete it.

Members were also not convinced that "having a fear of the GMC" or believing its function "was to punish him" were valid reasons for Rugemintwaza not to comply with the direction.

A hearing on 6 February determined that Rugemintwaza had done nothing to address the performance risks identified and had not engaged with the process and his registration was suspended for 12 months.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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