A family planning doctor told a patient that she had "something sinister" moving in her stomach and needed an exorcism to ward off evil spirits, a medical tribunal heard yesterday. Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, informed the young woman that she was being tormented by black magic and sent her away with crosses and stones to protect her. She also claimed to have visionary powers and told the patient that her mother was a witch who was planning to kill her, it was alleged.Dr Pratt, who worked for the NHS Westside Contraceptive Services in Westminster, London, is accused of serious professional misconduct and was due to face a General Medical Council "fitness to practise" panel in Manchester yesterday. But she failed to appear, and a summary of the case was read out before being adjourned for a date to be set.
The panel was told that Dr Pratt left her victim, known only as Mrs K, "very shaken and intimidated" after a routine consultation.
Mrs K had complained of pain and bleeding. She attended the clinic for an injection, but was apparently told instead that she was possessed by an evil spirit and needed religious help. Dr Pratt then urged her to visit a priest before claiming that her mother was a witch who was plotting with her husband to kill her, it was claimed.
The doctor is then said to have boasted to the clinic nurse that she was a visionary whose special powers had been recognised from an early age. The nurse was so alarmed that she told a manager and contacted Mrs K to ask if she was all right, the tribunal heard.
Dr Pratt is also accused of failing to co-operate with investigations by her employer and the local primary care trust. She had apparently refused to provide an up-to-date telephone number and address, and had not attended at least one previous hearing after claiming that she was unaware of it.
In a letter read to the panel yesterday, Dr Pratt asked for the hearing to be postponed because her barristers were "frauds".
The panel will now decide whether to restrict Dr Pratt's work practices until the tribunal officially opens, but the hearing will not begin until she secures legal representation. When a new date for the tribunal is set, the panel will decide whether Dr Pratt's conduct was "irresponsible, unprofessional, intimidatory to her patient and liable to bring the profession into disrepute".