Doctor gave health advice in exchange for meat

Relatives ‘hurt’ by former medic sending bill after death of couple who gave him gifts for ‘acting like GP’

AN NHS consultant accepted prime cuts of beef and horse riding lessons from his elderly neighbours in exchange for 30 years of medical treatment, a tribunal heard yesterday.

Stephen Bentley, 75, below, gave cattle farmer Harry Sutcliffe and his horse-riding instructor wife Joan advice on health issues between 1982 and 2012 while he was at Warrington Hospital.

In return, Mr Sutcliffe, who had heart disease and cancer, gave Dr Bentley sirloin steaks, whole turkeys and other cuts of meat, while his wife taught his daughter how to ride horses, a disciplinary tribunal in Manchester heard.

The couple, who lived on a farm in the village of Antrobus, Cheshire, would also invite Dr Bentley over to watch football matches and enjoy a glass of whisky with them, the panel was told. But following Mr Sutcliffe’s death in January 2016, aged 90, and Mrs Sutcliffe’s in November 2017, aged 84, the relationship between Dr Bentley and their relatives soured.

The physician sent Mrs Sutcliffe’s solicitor a bill for 68 consultations a few days after she had died, attaching a cover note that read: “I have never charged them for professional services provided. More fool me, you might say.” Mr Sutcliffe’s daughter reported Dr Bentley, who is now retired, to the General Medical Council (GMC) for “insensitive and dishonest” conduct.

Dr Bentley, who declined to attend the hearings, admitted that he failed to maintain a professional relationship with Mr Sutcliffe and keep adequate medical records of their consultations; that it was insensitive of him to send the invoice and cover letter to the solicitor without consulting the family; that the invoice was unsupported by medical records; and that it was unclear whether Mr and Mrs Sutcliffe knew they would be charged.

He denied failing to maintain a professional relationship with Mrs Sutcliffe; that he previously charged Mr Sutcliffe for professional services; that some of the 68 consultations he charged for were not professional in nature; and that his sending the invoice and cover letter was motivated by dishonesty.

Mr Sutcliffe’s daughter told the hearing that Dr Bentley, who describes himself on a Bupa website as a “downto-earth and plain-speaking Lancastrian”, sent “very curt and hurtful” text messages to her after her father’s death. “There was never any verbal suggestion there was going to be a payment,” she said. “My father would give him meat, or take him some meat in a box, or give him a turkey at Christmas. If there was any occasion when Dr Bentley had a family gathering, my father said ‘I have got you a special piece of meat’ and would give him a sirloin. It was our family’s way of saying thank you in appreciation of his visits.

“My first thought of the invoice was one of deep hurt. The timing of it was horrendous as it was a very traumatic time.”

Dr Bentley spent three years researching tropical diseases in Africa before being appointed a consultant general physician at Warrington Hospital. Richard Partridge, his lawyer, told the hearing: “Mr Sutcliffe had a number of incapabilities such as diabetes, ischemic heart disease and low-level bladder cancer.

“Dr Bentley was managing a lot of his prescriptions for him as far back as 1999 and he became a de facto GP for him. He knew he wasn’t entitled to some of the fees and this was emotional and an unprofessional letter. The tribunal continues.