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The General Medical Council has charged a former government adviser with serious professional misconduct over allegations of poor care standards at a nursing home condemned in an independent report.

Dr Chai Patel will go before the GMC on 31 January on charges relating to conditions at Lynde House in Twickenham between 1999 and 2002 when he was chief executive of owners Westminster Health Care.

The home was damned in a September 2002 report, commissioned by Kingston and Richmond Health Authority following a string of complaints made by relatives of residents.

It found Lynde House had insufficient and inadequately trained staff, used equipment that breached health and safety legislation and failed to tackle complaints properly, while residents and their relatives faced "an apparent climate of fear and intimidation".

Patel, who is now chief executive of mental health provider Priory Healthcare, stepped down from the government's older people's taskforce and Help the Aged's board of trustees shortly after the publication of the damning report, but has always disputed its conclusions.

The GMC has not revealed the specific charges against Patel, which will be confirmed at the hearing, but a spokesperson for the doctor confirmed they related to Lynde House.

He said: "Lynde House was, and continues to be, a valuable resource for the local community...There is absolutely no basis to these charges and Dr Patel is looking forward to clearing his name and reputation."
Patel's spokesperson added that the case would be costly for both the doctor and the GMC, and set a dangerous precedent for the council effectively regulating any health care provider which had a doctor on its senior management team.