Doctor told patient she 'had to be exorcised'

Published on 10/07/2007 00:26

A FAMILY planning doctor prescribed an exorcism to a patient seeking contraceptive advice, a medical tribunal heard yesterday.

Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, is said to have told the woman she was possessed by an evil spirit and had "something moving inside her". 'Mrs K' mentioned during the appointment for a routine contraceptive injection that she was experiencing pain and bleeding, the General Medical Council heard.

During the "bizarre" consultation at Westside Contraceptive Services in Westminster, London, Dr Pratt told Mrs K she would use her "black magic powers" to help her, the Fitness to Practise Panel sitting in Manchester was told.

Dr Pratt is said to have recommended she visit a priest at Westminster Cathedral, who would pray over her and take the stomach problem away.

The doctor allegedly made Mrs K - a practising Muslim - drink what she claimed was Christian holy water from a bottle in the consultation room. Dr Pratt then read to her from a battered Bible, said prayers over her stomach and gave her crosses and stones to ward off evil, the panel heard.

Dr Pratt later bragged to a nurse at the clinic that she was a "visionary" and told her manager, Chris Morgan, that she had a special gift that had been with her since childhood.

The GMC counsel, Stephen Brassington, said Mrs K was too "anxious and distressed" to give evidence in person at yesterday's hearing.

The panel heard that Mrs K still suffered flashbacks from her meeting with Dr Pratt.

In a written statement, Mrs K said: "Dr Pratt told me I shouldn't mention what she had told me to anyone. She wasn't nasty - I felt that she wanted to save me and she told me she had the power."

Mrs K said she was so shaken by the consultation she would have kept it to herself had the nurse at the clinic not been concerned enough to call her.

Nurse Lorrie Saunders, who works at the clinic where Dr Pratt held the consultation with Mrs K, said: "Mrs K had recently been to some part of Asia and Dr Pratt was saying that maybe someone there had put evil spirits inside her and they had to be exorcised."

Dr Pratt chose not to attend the hearing. She is accused of behaving in an unprofessional and irresponsible manner that was liable to bring the medical profession into disrepute.

She is also alleged to have failed to co-operate with inquiries into her behaviour by her manager and the primary care trust. If she is found guilty of misconduct, she may be struck off the medical register. The hearing continues.