Trainee GP suspended after forcing female patient to cry over her dead husband so he could film it and prove to bosses he had ’empathy’

A trainee GP has been suspended after he forced a patient to cry over her dead husband so he could film it and show it to his bosses.

Dr Christopher Ogbonna tried to prove he had ’empathy’ when he reduced the woman to tears shortly after she lost her husband to cancer.

During a disciplinary hearing it became clear that the video was part of his training and he hoped that the patient would be treated with understanding.

Dr Ogbonna then called the woman back to try to get her to re-record the parts of the consultation that he wanted to improve.

The intern has now been suspended for three months after a committee found he was guilty of misconduct for “putting his own needs before the well-being of the grieving patient”.

The Medical Practice Tribunal heard that in June 2022, Dr Ogbonna was working as a trainee GP at Yaxley Group Practice, Peterborough, Cambridge, when the woman made an appointment.

He contacted her and asked if he could evaluate her, as it would be useful for his training.

The court heard how Dr Ogbonna told her what questions he wanted to ask her and what she should answer before they practiced the conversation.

He knew she was medically fragile due to her husband’s death, but he kept asking her to cry when she talked about his death.

The GP also asked her to pretend to take off her clothes for an examination, when in reality she kept her clothes on.

Dr. Ogbonna then called her back and asked if they could re-record the consultation, because of the omissions and mistakes he had made during the recording.

The panel heard that he began to cry when she refused.

As part of the GP training, the trainee had to submit twelve recordings of individual patients in different categories.

Dr. Ogbonna had not made one at that time.

He told the panel in a written statement that he wanted to repeat the consultation with the woman because he wanted to perfect it.

The GP explained that he knew he had failed the registered consultation assessments for the second time and that he had put himself under pressure to do well.

The patient filed a complaint about his behavior, after which he turned to the General Medical Council in March 2023.

Speaking on behalf of Dr Ogbonna, Mr Andrew Colman said the doctor was ‘deeply affected by the stress of potentially not achieving his GP qualification’ after ‘years of dedicated service’.

Mr Colman argued that the pressure caused the GP to behave strangely.

The court found that while there was no evidence that Dr Ogbonna had asked or coached the patient to provide untruthful answers, he had been “persistent in his behaviour and had asked (the patient) on several occasions to assist him in making these recordings”.

It said: ‘(The patient) was vulnerable, not only because of the way she had presented her health problems, but also because of the loss she had suffered in her family. She had lost her husband (…) before this meeting with Dr Ogbonna and indicated that she was still ‘very sensitive’ about that.

‘Dr. Ogbonna was aware that (the patient) had lost her husband to cancer. However, he had asked her to repeat that fact several times in the recordings that were made. He had also asked her to cry so that he could show empathy.

‘Dr Ogbonna had put his needs above the welfare of (the patient). The court also noted (the patient’s) evidence that she was made to feel uncomfortable and that Dr Ogbonna had unduly pressured her.’

Dr Ogbonna has been working as a GP at Nene Valley and Hodgson Medical Practice in Peterborough since April 2023.