A Kildare-based GP accused of professional misconduct has told a medical inquiry that he would prefer to rely on international medical studies about Covid-19 vaccines rather than “get tied up with the minutiae of HSE guidelines” about their use.
Dr Neville Wilson of The Harbour Medical Clinic in Kilcock, Co Kildare told a fitness-to-practise hearing of the Medical Council that he felt public health guidelines about the infection in Ireland “have very little relevance for me".
The South-African born GP has denied a series of allegations of professional misconduct and poor professional performance in relation to his interaction with two people who attended his clinic during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Wilson is also accused of having posters on display in his clinic which questioned the efficacy and safety of Covid vaccines and which contained false and misleading information.
Evidence
The inquiry previously heard evidence that he told a patient, known as Witness A, on July 6th, 2021 that he should not have received the Covid vaccine and implied it was dangerous.
The inquiry heard an argument had also developed between the GP and a man who had brought his wife and young baby to the clinic on May 3rd, 2022 over anti-vaccine posters in the surgery as well as the fact that Dr Wilson and his receptionist were not wearing masks.
It is alleged that he told the man, identified as Witness B, that face masks and vaccines were ineffective against Covid.
However, Dr Wilson claims the evidence of the two witnesses is untrue and false.
At a resumed hearing on Monday, he said he was a private physician who followed international guidelines “as reported in peer reviewed articles drafted by highly specialised people in their field of study".
The GP said he would be “more inclined” to look at international studies than the HSE guidelines as they had “very little relevance” for him.
Dr Wilson pointed out that Witness A had asked him about his views on the Covid vaccine and he had replied that natural infection from the disease would give greater protection.
The GP stressed that this response represented an “opinion” and was not “advice.”
He observed that he was “not anti-vaccine but pro-science".
The doctor made his comments while cross-examining the Medical Council’s expert witness, Tríona Marnell, but chose not to give direct evidence.
If the allegations were proven, Dr Marnell said they would contradict all public health guidelines in force at the time and were “medically incorrect.”
She observed that either Dr Wilson did not know the guidelines or chose to ignore them at a time when getting vaccines to everybody as quickly as possible was a priority.
Dr Marnell reminded the fitness-to-practise committee that Covid-19 was a serious infection that had killed almost 10,000 people in the Republic and that the consequences of not following the HSE’s guidelines could be significant.
While she acknowledged that Dr Wilson was entitled to his personal views about vaccines, she claimed his actions went “far beyond legitimate debate and minority opinion".
'Vaccine-sceptic' position
Dr Marnell, who described the GP as having a “vaccine-sceptic” position, observed that doctors need to leave such views “at the door” when treating patients as they have a professional duty to follow guidelines.
“We don’t get to pick and choose which bits of it we think we know better about,” she added.
Dr Marnell said it was a matter of “huge frustration and disappointment” to have some doctors deliberately ignoring guidelines which she warned could confuse patients and undermine public confidence in the medical profession.
She said it was “not acceptable” for doctors to be sending out the message that it was OK not to be vaccinated.
However, Dr Marnell welcomed the fact that there was no evidence that anyone had come to any harm arising out of the allegations.
Asked by Dr Wilson if she thought his conduct had been “professional, appropriate and compassionate,” Dr Marnell replied: “Unfortunately, the answer is unprofessional".
A receptionist at Dr Wilson’s clinic, Noeleen Bontempi, told the inquiry that Witness B was unhappy and quite angry about the posters and people not wearing masks in the clinic.
Ms Bontempi said she went to get Dr Wilson as she did not want to engage with Witness B in a discussion about the vaccine.
Counsel for the Medical Council, Eoghan O’Sullivan BL, claimed there was “an effective blanket policy” in Dr Wilson’ s clinic on not wearing masks from February 2022 after guidelines had been relaxed.
Ms Bontempi admitted she had been coughing while Witness B was in the surgery but knew it was not Covid as she believed it was linked to an allergy.
Under cross-examination, she admitted she did not know that America’s Frontline Doctors, whose poster was on display in the clinic, was a right-wing organisation that promoted an anti-vax agenda.
US Capitol riot
Ms Bontempi said she was also unaware that the group’s founder was one of the people convicted for storming the US Capitol building in Washington on January 6th, 2020.
In addition, she did not know that a founder of World Doctors’ Alliance – a group also referenced in the poster – had been struck off by the UK’s General Medical Council for propagating anti-vaccine views.
Asked about her own views on the issue, Ms Bontempi said she would be hesitant to take vaccines as she was “very sensitive to medication".
She also confirmed to the inquiry that the clinic did not offer the Covid vaccine to patients and had no standard advice to offer anyone looking for it.
In a closing submission, Dr Wilson said he had conducted himself in a professional manner and compassionate way at all times “taking into account the best interests and needs of patients and applying my knowledge on the basis of scientific evidence.”
The GP, who outlined how he has 43 years’ experience as a doctor, said he did not accept the charges.
Dr Wilson, who has lived in Ireland since 2004, previously worked in Dublin, Wexford and Maynooth before setting up a practice in Kilcock.
The former pilot with the South African Air Force became a naturalised Irish citizen in 2013.
The chairperson of the inquiry, Jill Long, said the committee would announce its findings on a future date still to be fixed.
