Doctor facing child porn charges examined under-18s unsupervised

The tribunal comes after Dr Girling was convicted of a child sexual offences in England in 2023.

A police investigation found 28 Category A images on his laptop and one Category A image on an external hard drive belonging to him.

He initially pled not guilty to the charges, before changing his plea at Cambridge Crown Court in June, 2023.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, attend rehabilitation, and register with the police.

He also has to comply with a sexual prevention order until 2028.

The MPTS tribunal ruled on Friday that Dr Girling’s fitness to practise is impaired by reason of misconduct and conviction.

A ruling published by the MPTS said they were “satisfied that the circumstances of Dr Girling’s case were so serious that his misconduct and conviction were fundamentally incompatible with continued registration”.

It added that his actions had “undermined and breached the trust and confidence of patients and the public in the medical profession” and that his “convictions inevitably brought the profession into disrepute”.

In a statement submitted to the tribunal, the doctor said he no longer worked in a clinical role and “had no intention of ever returning to one”.

He said he had always done his “best for patients” and wished to “move on in life and from medicine”.

Dr Girling has 28 days to appeal the decision.

NHS Highland said Dr Girling had clear instruction from the General Medical Council (GMC) – which maintains the official register of medical practitioners – that he had to have chaperones for any patient under 18.

A spokesperson added: “Immediate action was taken to suspend any further locum shifts and we communicated to the GMC that he was in breach of his conditions.

“It is the action taken by NHS Highland that has resulted in this further tribunal being undertaken.”