Doctor, 36, banned from treating patients for beating his wife is allowed back to work

A doctor banned from treating patients for beating his wife is allowed back to work again after he said he had felt ‘left out’ of the weekly NHS Clap for Carers.

Dr Abdul Basit, 36, was suspended after he grabbed his wife by the throat and manhandled her during a string of arguments as she tried to adapt to a new life with him in the UK.

The unnamed victim, a junior doctor whose father is a renowned physician in Pakistan, said she was also mocked by her husband about her academic record. 

She also accused him of being a ‘penny pincher’ who would only let her spend £10 a week on lunches. 

Last April, Basit, who worked in the Dermatalogy Department at Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, Cumbria, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

The General Medical Council accused him of a ‘pattern of emotional, psychological and verbal abuse.’

But last week following a review hearing at Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service his four month suspension was lifted and he was allowed to return to work.

Tribunal chairman Ms Ijeoma Omambala told the Manchester hearing told that Dr Basit had felt ‘left out of the recent hand clapping for the NHS during lockdown’. 

He said that Dr Basit had realised that it was his own ‘misconduct’ that was the reason he couldn’t work and wasn’t included in this.    

He said: ‘He has sought to maintain his knowledge and skills and the tribunal considered this to be indicative of a doctor who takes his profession seriously.’

Dr Basit told the tribunal he took ‘full responsibility for his actions’ and they were satisfied that ‘his insight is genuine’.   

The Manchester hearing was told the Basits had married in her native Pakistan in 2015 where she worked as a research assistant and she joined him in the UK in February the following year.

But over the ensuing months he would belittle, push and shove his wife known as Dr A during minor arguments which led her to finally file for divorce.  

She was initially too scared to tell anyone about her ordeal but police were alerted in May 2016 after a violent argument between Basit and his wife.

Following a family meal at a restaurant, Basit was heard ‘screaming and shouting’ at his wife and a fight broke out when her brother, also a doctor, intervened. 

Basit punched his wife in the face and on the ear then hit her brother. 

She suffered swelling and bruising to her left eye in the incident.  

She told the hearing how she came to the UK to be with Dr Basit and wanted to make the relationship work so she ‘would stay and give him chances’ despite the abuse. 

Dr A said told how the ‘relationship centred around fear’ for both her physical well-being and for her family’s reputation in Pakistan.  

She said: ‘He told me that he did this because he wanted to break me down sociologically and emotionally but at the same time he did say that he did love me.   

She added: ‘He would also grab my neck, squeeze it and then ask: ‘how does that feel?’ I couldn’t understand why he was doing this and he just said: ‘I am just seeing what it feels like.’  

Dr A described it as ‘humiliating’ that Dr Basit would make her ‘beg for money’ and would tell her to ‘make do with £10 a week’ to buy lunches during her first month in the UK.   

In 2017 she went to court to get a non-molestation order against him after initially declining to report her husband to police.

Dr Basit told the review hearing: ‘I see patients with mental health problems and sometimes the patients are women who are or were subject to violence and they will find it very upsetting if they come to know about the proven allegations regarding the doctor providing them care. 

‘I always treat them with respect and compassion in spite of my current issues and always make their safety my priority.’

But Miss Shirlie Duckworth lawyer for the GMC said: ‘It is not safe for him to return to unrestricted practice.’