Care home chief cleared of charges

Former government adviser Dr Chai Patel has been cleared of serious
professional misconduct by a General Medical Council panel.

The charges against Patel related to allegations of poor care
standards at a nursing home run by Westminster Health Care, during
the time he was chief executive.

However, last month, in a judicial review brought by Patel, the
High Court ordered the GMC panel to strike out the main charges
against him – namely that he failed to safeguard the welfare of
residents at Lynde House in Twickenham.

This left the panel with little option but to find him not guilty
of serious professional misconduct.

Patel, now chief executive of mental health provider Priory
Healthcare, served on the government’s older people’s task force.