Renowned Edinburgh psychiatrist struck off for ‘misleading and inaccurate’ patient report

Psychiatrist Jane McLennan, who has been struck off for giving misleading reports on a patient

Dr Jane McLennan, who was based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, has had her name erased from the medical register after falsely claiming the man, known as ‘Mr A’, had cursed throughout the one hour 48 minute evaluation and told her that he kept taped conversations with “girning” customers while working as a call handler at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in Glasgow.

Dr McLennan, 57, testified under oath that Mr A claimed he “felt like hitting people at work,” at an employment tribunal in January 2015, but was unaware that Mr A had secretly recorded the consultation on his phone and later reported her to the General Medical Council (GMC) after failing to convince Scottish prosecutors to investigate.

In their decision, the tribunal noted that Dr McLennan had retired from medical practice, but added public confidence would be “shaken” if she was allowed to return to work.

Mr A was pursuing a disability discrimination claim against his former employers at CICA and Dr McLennan had been hired to carry out a psychiatric evaluation of the claimant.

The former calls handler had been dismissed for gross misconduct in May 2013, but claimed the complaints against him had been fabricated by colleagues and managers who had victimised him for whistleblowing.

Dr McLennan’s solicitors tried to block the evidence from being heard after branding Mr A a conspiracy theorist, but Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (MPTS) rejected their arguments, describing the former Ministry of Justice employee as a “reliable witness”.

In its determination on the case, the MPTS found Dr McLennan “had taken a dislike to Mr A” after she reported feeling intimidated and bullied by him.

Their report read: “Dr McLennan’s actions breached a fundamental tenet of the medical profession, namely the requirement to act with honesty and integrity.”

“Dr McLennan’s integrity was further damaged by the fact that she then gave evidence at an Employment Tribunal which was dishonest. This tribunal considered that fellow professionals would find Dr McLennan’s actions deplorable.”

In their decision, the Tribunal said they could not be fully confident that Dr McLennan would not seek to return to medical practice work in the next six months, leaving them with no choice but immediately suspend her registration.

It added: “Public confidence in the profession would be damaged if an immediate order were not made.”

“In view of the Tribunal’s findings on the facts, impairment and sanction, the Tribunal concluded that it is necessary to make an order suspending Dr McLennan’s registration immediately to protect the public interest.”