A BASILDON doctor has been suspended after sending letters to patients falsely claiming they had been "professionally abused" by a colleague when having contraceptive coils fitted.

Dr Frank Hlordzi wrote to six women who had been treated at Clayhill Medical Practice, in Basildon, telling them a chemical could have been wrongly used on them.

He had previously been struck off from the British medical register in 2019 over the charges, however, following a successful High Court appeal was reinstated.

READ MORE

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service reheard the case earlier this month, and ruled Dr Hlordzi should be suspended for three months.

He had previously spent six months suspended between August 2019 and February 2020 until his successful appeal; since then, he has acted as a locum in a number of practices outside of Essex.

Get more great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day by signing up to our morning newsletter - don't miss out!

The tribunal heard in December 2016, Dr Hlordzi had sent letters to six female patients claiming "a pink sterile disinfectant, Hydrex Pink" may have been used during procedures to implant a contraceptive coil, which was untrue.

The disgraced doctor also told the patients they “were probably abused with a chemical and there was probably a serious professional violation”.

During the hearing he admitted to sending the emails but denied knowing they were untrue; the tribunal ruled allegations he knew the claims to be untrue “were not proved”.

In his evidence, Dr Hlordzi said he hadn’t just written to the patients but had written to the GMC to ask them to “come and investigate”.

He said GMC and NHS England had not “come back” to him and he was worried.

He claimed in his role at the practice, he was “mandated by the partnership to investigate”.

The tribunal noted one of the patients to whom Dr Hlordzi had written was a vulnerable patient and suffering from mental illness.

A nurse stated this patient had come into the practice after receiving the letter and was “visibly distressed as the patient genuinely believed that she had been assaulted”.

The nurse claimed the patient had disclosed to her that she had self-harmed as a result of receiving the letter.

Dr Hlordzi, has since apologised to the patients and doctors at the practice, was suspended for three months following the hearing.