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A DOCTOR fabricated face-to-face appointments to avoid being late for picking up her two children from school.
Dr. Helen Eisenhauer, a 43-year-old mother of two, has been prohibited from treating patients following the revelation of her deceit.
Dr. Helen Eisenhauer, 43Credit: Cavendish
She faked having face-to-face appointments to avoid being late for her children.Credit: Cavendish
She was scheduled to finish her surgery at 4:45 PM but was concerned that last-minute consultations arranged by her colleagues would prevent her from picking up her children from the after-school club by 6 PM.
To ensure her timely departure, the part-time salaried doctor invented two face-to-face appointments for patients she had already consulted via telephone earlier that day.
However, her deception was uncovered when a partner at the Stenhouse Medical Centre in Arnold, near Nottingham, noticed discrepancies in her booking records and called her in for a meeting.
Initially, she denied any wrongdoing, but it was revealed that she not only blocked her schedule in the late afternoon to avoid seeing other patients but also falsified entries in the work diary to suggest she had indeed conducted face-to-face consultations.
The GP, who reportedly earns around £60,000 annually, then self-referred to the General Medical Council (GMC) and subsequently confessed to her dishonesty.
She explained that she was having difficulty managing her work and parental duties.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service was informed that Eisenhauer joined the practice in 2018, but issues began when she started experiencing problems related to deprivation.
In July 2024, one of the partners investigated her appointment schedule, leading to two meetings in the following month where Eisenhauer denied any dishonesty.
However, it came to light that she had scheduled face-to-face appointments first with Patient A and then with Patient B at 4:30 PM that day, fully aware that neither appointment was necessary, as she had already conducted telephone consultations with both earlier that same day.
In an initial note to the GMC, she stated: “I had blocked an appointment for a patient to be seen, and then completed an entry into a patient’s record two days later which was incorrect. At the time, I believed this was the correct patient I had seen. However, further investigation revealed that I did not see this patient, and the information entered was inaccurate. I cannot reasonably explain what happened on that day, and the evidence indicates that I did not see a patient during the specific time slot blocked, thus the information in the notes was not accurate. I do not believe I knowingly entered false information, but I acknowledge that this was a significant event, and without an explanation, it raises questions about my integrity.”
During the tribunal, Eisenhauer admitted to lying on the booking schedule, stating that she had been under “strain from sleep deprivation resulting from her parenting responsibilities.”
She indicated that on July 17, 2024, she was scheduled to finish at 4:45 PM and needed to leave promptly to collect her children by 6:00 PM.
“On the day, appointments can be booked very quickly and vary in complexity,” she said. “I was concerned about what appointments might be scheduled and how they could affect my finishing time. I recall thinking that the time slot needed to have a named patient booked, so I added Patient B. I was worried that the slot could be filled with another patient, which might further delay my day.”
“The incident occurred during a particularly stressful time for me as I was trying to balance the demands of my young family with my busy professional commitments. I fully accept, however, that this does not excuse my dishonesty. I believe that in the time since, I have significantly improved my ability to balance my obligations at home and work. I am fully aware of the importance of honesty and integrity in both my personal and professional life, as well as the impact that dishonest actions can have on the profession and public trust.”
Under cross-examination, Eisenhauer agreed that there was nothing unusual about that particular working day and that her situation was a “predictable challenge faced by many professionals.”
She had chosen that day to take on additional locum session work but had failed to make adequate arrangements for childcare.
For the GMC, Ms. Katie Jones stated: “Dr. Eisenhauer engaged in dishonest acts that displayed a reckless disregard for patient safety. She undermined a system designed to protect the public and disrupted collaborative working by repeatedly lying to her colleagues.”
Eisenhauer was suspended from practice for five months after admitting to misconduct charges.
MPTS chairman Mr. Neil Dalton remarked: “Throughout this conduct, Dr. Eisenhauer demonstrated a reckless disregard for both patient safety and professional standards. Her actions undermined collaborative working, eroding the trust her colleagues needed to have in her integrity as they worked alongside her daily. Her failure to be honest with her professional colleagues extended into the investigation meeting, a factor that escalated the seriousness of the situation. By creating a false record, she also undermined a system designed to protect the public and prioritized her own interests over those of her patients.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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