Doctor caught driving over limit twice keeps job
AJUNIOR doctor arrested twice for drink-driving has been allowed keep her job after a disciplinary panel concluded she posed no risk to patients.
Former Stockport Grammar school pupil Dr Lauren Fowler, 26, drank white wine with friends over lunch before crashing her Ford Ka in an area busy with pedestrians.
She was said to have been barely able to speak when officers arrived. An empty bottle of wine was found in the footwell of her car.
Fowler was bailed. She was stopped in her car again by police less than two months later.
She had downed half a bottle of vodka before driving around a hotel car park near her family home in Styal, Cheshire.
Tests showed she was more than three times over the drink drive limit.
During a court hearing in January, Fowler admitted drink driving and failing to provide a breath specimen, but magistrates suspended a jail sentence after hearing she had an addiction to alcohol due to the ‘stress of studying medicine’ at Imperial College London.
She claimed she drank heavily during her studies at the research university and did not know who to turn to for help.
Fowler has since quit drinking and is currently serving a three-year driving ban.
A first-year doctor, she faced a misconduct hearing held in private at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester.
She was told she could continue working in medicine under supervision for the next 20 months.
In a redacted document issued after the hearing, panel chairman Gillian Temple-Bone said: “The tribunal was aware that there had been a risk to Dr Fowler and to the public by her actions, although fortunately they were minor incidents with no injuries.
“We have heard evidence her performance has exceeded expectations, and that her clinical work has posed no risk to patients.
“She has also fulfilled the requirements of her criminal sentencing, including carrying out unpaid work and has voluntarily attended a drinkdriving course. Dr Fowler in oral evidence and through the reports of others has shown she is very remorseful.’’
She said they had heard no evidence to suggest there had been issues with patient safety and that Dr Fowler had done ‘everything possible’ to correct her conduct.
She added: “The Tribunal recognised she was convicted in a court of law, currently remains under a driving ban and has experienced public opprobrium through publicity – all highlighting to her and others the inevitable consequences and unacceptability of her behaviour in the eyes of the public.
“Overall, the Tribunal has noted her remorsefulness. It has received positive reports and testimonials from colleagues who say she is a promising young doctor who excels in her training. Her offending was serious but not of being fundamentally incompatible with continued practice. The punitive effect of a more serious sanction such as suspension would be disproportionate.”
Fowler had pursued her career in medicine after she excelled at Stockport Grammar school where she was senior prefect and attained two A* grades and an A at A Level.
She was also shortlisted for a UK Scientist of the Year award for a research project she carried out at Manchester University in 2011.
It is thought Fowler attended Cambridge University before enrolling in 2014 at Imperial College.