Doctor’s work history unclear

HEALTH authorities have been unable to establish conclusively whether a doctor registered to work in Ireland and responsible for a number of botched procedures in Britain ever practised here.

Yesterday a spokesperson for the Health Service Executive said it had consulted with personnel in payroll and with Comhairle na nOspidéal, the body which covers consultant appointments, to see if Dr Prem Chandra Kumar Chhetri, an obsetrician/gynaecologist, had worked in an Irish hospital.

“It does not appear that he worked here prior to being struck off,” the HSE spokesman said. However he could not say categorically that Dr Chhetri had never worked in Ireland. Dr Chhetri was registered to work here until December last when he was struck off the medical register. This followed a finding of professional misconduct against him by the Medical Council, a decision upheld by the High Court.