Nevill Hall doctor struck off for working while on sick pay

Dr Joao Muel said he was unfit to work at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, but worked elsewhere

A doctor who worked at other hospitals while on sick leave has been struck off the medical register.

Dr Joao Muel worked as a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.

In summer 2018, he told the Aneurin Bevan health board his diabetes meant he was too sick to work.

While on full sick pay, the 55-year-old accepted shifts, booked through agencies, at hospitals in Wrexham, Barnsley and Lancashire.

He was struck off the medical register after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found his behaviour was "fundamentally incompatible with being a doctor".

Muel claimed during his tribunal hearing that he did not know working locum shifts at another hospital while on sick leave was dishonest, and had been having money issues.

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The tribunal heard how, in 2019, Muel was convicted of fraud and was given a community order by Gwent magistrates after working agency shifts in Wrexham and getting double payments.

During the tribunal, he also admitted claims he provided poor clinical care to two patients in June 2018 and August 2018.

This included failing to spot a swab left in a patient after surgery and failing to alert surgeons that a patient urgently needed a C-section.

Dr Muel told a colleague at Wrexham Maelor Hospital that he was working there while off sick

Rosalind Emsley-Smith, representing the General Medical Council, told the tribunal Muel's treatment of patients was "arrogant".

Muel also admitted failing to inform Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board he was facing a fitness to practise investigation when he applied for a job in 2019.

Ms Emsley-Smith said Muel - who at the time of the double shifts was living in Raglan, Monmouthshire - had "lied and lied and lied".

Representing Muel, Penny Maudsley said he had apologised for his conduct and had tried to remedy his failings, taking courses in professional standards.

The panel agreed he was previously of good character, had completed further training and had paid back the money to the Aneurin Bevan health board, which runs Nevill Hall hospital.

However, the panel said the dishonesty was pre-planned and sustained, involving 17 agency shifts and substantial payments.

At an earlier hearing, the MPTS found his fitness to practise was impaired by "misconduct and a conviction".

As well as erasing him from the register, the MPTS also imposed an immediate suspension order to cover a 28-day period in which he can appeal.

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