A consultant physician has been struck off for “wide ranging and sustained” misconduct after prescribing drugs to gender-confused patients without adequate assessment.
A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel proved a number of charges against Dr Michael Webberley, including seven cases between February 2017 and June 2019 where puberty blockers and hormone treatments were prescribed without following clinical practice.
The doctor dispensed treatments via the unlicensed business GenderGP, founded by his wife Dr Helen Webberley, which the tribunal concluded was “motivated by efforts to avoid the regulatory framework of the UK” and it moved to Spain.
Consequences
Tribunal Chairman Tim Bradbury found a “pattern of substandard care”, saying Dr Webberley prescribed treatments “according to the patient’s wishes” instead of using objective assessments to determine clinical need.
One nine-year-old girl was prescribed puberty-blocking drugs on the basis of a questionnaire, without sufficient mental or physical assessment.
Dr Webberley also gave a 17-year-old girl testosterone without checking her medical records, which would have revealed long-term mental health issues. She committed suicide three months later.
Safety
Earlier this year, a tribunal ruled that Helen Webberley could return to practice medicine if stringent conditions were met.
She still faces a number of charges brought by the General Medical Council, including compromising patient safety and prescribing inappropriately to gender-confused young people.
The Interim Orders Tribunal restored her licence, pending the outcome of the investigation into allegations of medical misconduct.
The interim conditions stated that she “must not prescribe, administer or have primary responsibility for any drugs”.
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