Doctor ‘didn’t know how to call 999’, Medical Council told

A trainee psychiatrist made more mistakes than any doctor his supervising consultant had ever seen, a Medical Council fitness-to-practise hearing has been told.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ciaran Corcoran was giving evidence in the case against Dr Muthulingam Kasiraj, who preferred to be known as Dr Sripathy.

The 36-year-old faces 24 allegations of professional misconduct or poor professional performance.

The hearing in Dublin was told Dr Sripathy had been unaware of the basics of life support and did not know how to call 999. He was also allegedly unable to conduct a neurological examination and did not appear to know what herpes simplex, a cold sore, was.

Dr Sripathy, an Indian national who received his medical qualification in Bulgaria in 2005, was granted the right to practise in Ireland by the Medical Council in 2012.

St Loman’s Hospital

He worked in the child and adolescent psychiatric services in Mullingar in the first six months of 2013 before securing a position at St Loman’s Hospital in the town, a general adult psychiatric facility.

Dr Corcoran said that despite his qualification and experience of medicine, Dr Sripathy could not follow instructions.

"I have never seen that volume of errors coming from one doctor in all my years," he told lay member of the fitness-to-practise committee, Michael Brophy.

“I couldn’t figure out was it an underlying health issue, or a motivational issue,” the consultant psychiatrist said. He had never come across the type of challenge Dr Sripathy presented.

Legal assessor for the council, Patricia Dillon SC, said Dr Sripathy was subsequently diagnosed with anankastic disorder, an obsessive compulsive personality condition. Dr Sripathy received treatment, counselling and medication and was assessed as fit to work as a senior house officer (SHO).

Asked whether he would look at Dr Sripathy’s case differently having heard the diagnosis, Dr Corcoran said he would possibly review the situation in light of this.

Dr Sripathy, who represented himself, said a number of allegations made against him were made at his first time on call. In one case it was claimed he did not know what the medication was that he prescribed for a patient. But he said a nurse told him that Dr Corcoran said he should prescribe it.

Claim rejected

He rejected a claim that he did not know how to make a neurological examination, but was unsure of the hospital’s style of assessment.

Dr Corcoran said, however, that what came across was that Dr Sripathy did not know how to carry out the examination, rather than an issue with the manner of assessment.

Lawyer for the Medical Council JP McDowell told the hearing Dr Corcoran wrote in December 2013 to the council expressing his concerns about Dr Sripathy’s lack of knowledge.

The hearing continues on Monday.