A Dundee doctor faces being struck off after the profession’s regulatory body ruled he was not capable of rectifying his deficiencies and presented a risk to patients.
The Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service found more than 20 allegations proved against Dennis Miller while he was employed by NHS Tayside at the Ardler Practice in Dundee for 21 years until 2011.
Most of the charges, which he admitted, involved the prescription of drugs for a drug addict at the Turnberry Avenue practice.
These included prescribing nitrazepam without the knowledge or agreement of the Drug Problem Service, failing to challenge the patient about his over-use of the medication or encouraging him to reduce his dosage.
He also gave him the psychiatric medication lithium without specialist advice or tests and the heroin substitute methadone when it was already being prescribed to him.
As a result Dr Miller’s professional competence was unacceptable as he had not provided good medical care or maintained good practice.
In a judgment issued after a hearing in Manchester, the service’s fitness to practice panel said they were concerned about the range of Dr Miller’s practice.
Some of them had the potential to put patient safety at risk, and he demonstrated an unwillingness to work with colleagues.
This was evidenced by his failure to participate in practice meetings, significant event analysis, audits or staff training. Dr Miller had no formal training in drug dependence, despite running a methadone clinic.
He did not attend the hearing, but claimed he could address his deficiencies and hoped he still had something to offer.
“The panel has no objective evidence to demonstrate that any remediation of the failings identified both in terms of Dr Miller’s misconduct and/or his deficient professional performance has taken place,” the judgment stated.
Despite receiving a warning from the General Medical Council in 2009, Dr Miller’s prescribing practice in relation to the patient “was contrary to the warning and fell short of acceptable standards”.
The panel ruled his fitness to practice was impaired by his misconduct and deficient professional performance. They will now consider the sanction to be imposed.
NHS Tayside shut down Dr Miller’s Ardler practice in 2011 and transferred the 1,700 patients to other surgeries after a lengthy investigation into his behaviour.