£450k f iasco over doctor cleared of sex claims
A SENIOR A&E doctor cleared of having sexual trysts with two patients after a botched inquiry remains suspended on full pay.
Colleagues said the situation, which has cost the public purse almost £450,000, ‘defies sense’.
Accusations that Dr Richard MacCallum, 55, had affairs with two female patients were dropped nine months ago after a medical tribunal found they were baseless. Last night, the General Medical Council also confirmed the married father of two ‘may work at any grade in the NHS’.
But a colleague of Dr MacCallum has told how NHS Forth Valley is still refusing to allow him back to work.
So far, he has been suspended from his job as a consultant at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Stirlingshire, on full pay – £112,000 a year – for four years.
Last night, a colleague, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: ‘He has been cleared by a tribunal in February. The final determinations in March found that his fitness to practise was not impaired.’
He added: ‘This is not a good time for hospitals to not have staff.’
Dr MacCallum was subject to a raft of allegations relating to sexual misconduct in 2016. Investigations were launched in November of that year and he was suspended on full pay.
Yet in March this year, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service cleared the doctor and slammed NHS Forth Valley for its ‘defective’ probes.
A spokesman for NHS Forth Valley said: ‘We can confirm that a member of medical staff remains suspended pending the continuation of our internal investigation.’