Shrewsbury doctor who failed to provide documents gets year suspension
A Shrewsbury doctor who failed to comply with a requirement to provide documents has been suspended for 12 months.
Dr Joseph Rugemintwaza – who qualified as a doctor from the National University of Rwanda in 2002 – was working at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital at the time concerns were raised.
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On January 27, 2025, Dr John Jones, responsible officer at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, referred the matter to the General Medical Council (GMC) after a clinical performance assessment was carried out on June 23, 2023. It found that performance was poor in the following areas of Dr Rugemintwaza’s practise:
assessment of patient’s condition
clinical management
use of resources
infection control
maintaining professional performance
The GMC first contacted Dr Rugemintwaza on March 3 via email. After the doctor confirmed his contact details, the GMC representative called him the following day to confirm that the necessary documentation would be emailed.
This included a letter from the assistant registrar and a Work Details Form that had to be completed and returned by March 12.
Dr Rugemintwaza confirmed receipt of the documents on March 6, but expressed confusion regarding the date the Work Details Form needed to be returned by, and the date of an upcoming Interim Orders Tribunal hearing. The dates were clarified by the GMC.
A reminder was sent on March 13 after Dr Rugemintwaza failed to complete the form, with the deadline extended by a week.
Further correspondence between the GMC and Dr Rugemintwaza ensued over the next three months.
After being told by the doctor that he would complete the forms “the next day” after responding on June 6, the GMC representative asked that they be received no later than September 9.
However, after Dr Rugemintwaza failed to communicate with them any further, the GMC escalated the matter and a referral was made to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) for non-compliance.
Last month, the Medical Practictioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) determined that non-compliance was found. The panel was not persuaded by Dr Rugemintwaza’s explanation that he did not understand the form or how to complete it.
Members were also not convinced that “having a fear of the GMC” or believing its function “was to punish him” were not valid reasons for Dr Rugemintwaza not to comply with the direction.
Last Friday (February 6), the hearing commenced to decide what sanctions should be imposed. The panel determined that Dr Rugemintwaza has done nothing to address the performance risks identified and had not engaged with the process.
Therefore, his registration has been suspended for 12 months. This is immediate, and covers the 28-day appeal period.
