A doctor convicted of making “indecent photographs of children” has been struck off after seeing young patients without a chaperone at a Fort William hospital.
Dr Carey Girling was working as a locum at Belford Hospital for NHS Highland when the incidents took place in March 2022.
The General Medical Council (GMC) had placed conditions on his license, which included not carrying out unchaperoned consultations with under-18s except in life-threatening emergencies.
He also had to keep an accurate log of all these consultations.
However, between March 20 and 27, 2022 he saw young patients without a chaperone “on more than one occasion”.
The allegations against him were all found to be “proved” by the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (MPTS) during a hearing last month.
Dr Girling did not attend the hearing in person or have representation.
Former Fort William doctor struck off
The tribunal confirmed the patients in question were all under the age of 18 and viewed email responses from nursing staff who confirmed they were not present as chaperones.
Some of the names Dr Girling had logged did not work in the emergency department or had not been on shift at the time.
He had also suggested parents or guardians had been present and acting as a chaperone but there was no evidence to support this claim.
Concerns were raised by other staff at Belford Hospital which eventually led to the tribunal hearing.
The determination from MPTS stated: “Based on the concerns raised in this case, the tribunal was satisfied that an immediate order was necessary to protect members of the public and that it would be in the public interest.”
Dr Girling has ultimately been “erased” from the medical register having previously been suspended.
Carey Girling convicted for ‘making indecent images of children’
Last year, Dr Girling was convicted in court for making indecent photographs of children – including 29 category A images, 15 category B images and 27 category C images.
He had been remanded on conditional bail with a condition in place that he could not have any unsupervised contact with any child under 18.
The former Swansea University student initially entered a not-guilty plea before pleading guilty at Cambridge Crown Court on June 23, 2023, where he was sentenced to a community order .
He was ordered to attend a rehabilitation activity for up to a maximum of 50 days, carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and register with the police.
He also has to comply with a sexual prevention order until August 3, 2028.
Action taken by NHS Highland
A spokesperson from NHS Highland said: “Dr Girling was under conditions and was under regular review by the GMC. He had clear guidance to follow to maintain compliance with these conditions.
“Dr Girling had clear instruction from the GMC that he had to ensure that he had a chaperone for any patient under the age of 18 and that he had to maintain a written, contemporaneous record of all cases seen.
“This was made clear that he was responsible for following these conditions at all times.
“When a concern was raised to the leadership team, immediate action was taken to suspend any further locum shifts and we communicated to the GMC that he was in breach of his conditions.
“It is the action taken by NHS Highland that has resulted in this further tribunal being undertaken.”
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