He also admitted he was often taking drugs and drinking alcohol
(Stock photo) A Birmingham GP has been struck off the medical register(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A Birmingham doctor has been struck off from practicing after admitting he was often taking drugs and having an inappropriate relationship with a patient.
Dr Eren Battaloglu, who had been working as a GP at the Soho Health Centre and the Kirpal Medical Centre for six years, was deemed to be a ‘high risk’ to the public at a General Medical Council hearing.
He was banned from practicing immediately after the hearing ending on April 23, which also heard he had advised a patient he was having sex with how she could abort his baby.
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He claimed he had met Ms A on an escort site and did not recognise her.
But she told the tribunal it was an ‘online dating site’ or a ‘hook up site’ and claimed he had told her he recognised her from the surgery the first time they met and had sex.
She said he had given her around £300 three times after they had sex, but did not know why. They then continued their sexual relationship.
He admitted he had sent her WhatsApp messages of a ‘highly sexual nature’, requested she bought him illegal drugs, went to her house to drink alcohol, and had sent her money despite knowing she was vulnerable as a serious drug user and had significant mental health issues.
He claimed the money was sent after repeated requests and threats to his family.
He also admitted that he had been told by Ms A that she was pregnant with his child and had offered to refer her to hospital for an abortion, which was inappropriate as he was in a personal relationship with her.
When Ms A then told him she had been advised it was too late to terminate the pregnancy, he admitted to discussing methods to induce termination with her, including taking two medications.
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Immediate suspension
The tribunal heard Battaloglu had said he was now clean and he had taken significant steps to address his drug use.
Mr Ivill, representing Battaloglu, accepted his conduct had fallen short of the standard expected and was serious, but said these events could be described as an ‘isolated episode’ in an otherwise unblemished career’.
But the tribunal determined Battaloglu posed a current and ongoing risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of the public.
The tribunal found while he had admitted the majority of the allegations and apologised for his behaviour, his focus on the impact of his actions were ‘on himself and his family’ and his ‘primary focus was on the negative impact of these events on him and that he gave little indication that he has effectively reflected on or fully appreciates the impact on Ms A.’
The tribunal found Battaloglu’s fitness to practise was impaired by reason of misconduct and the high level of risk he posed to public protection was ‘so significant that erasure was the only appropriate sanction’.
The panel asked his name to be struck from the medical register and his registration be suspended immediately at a General Medical Council misconduct hearing ending on April 23.
Battaloglu qualified as a doctor in 2013, completing his GP training at hospitals and GP Practices across Birmingham before working for two years as a locum in Sandwell and City Hospital Accident & Emergency Department.