A doctor jailed for punching a dementia patient in the face when they used a racist term has attempted to apologise to the man – and his mother.
Dr Xowi Mwimbi, who specialised in elderly care, was working at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in August 2021 when he hit out at the man. Dr Mwimbi had been warned the patient’s complex condition could cause outbursts but he retaliated by pushing the man’s head and then punching him in the face.
Following a trial at Preston Crown Court, the jury concluded that the doctor was not acting in self-defence and found him guilty of ill-treatment by a care worker. He was jailed for 12 months in February 2024, LancsLive reported.
This week the General Medical Council brought a case against Dr Mwimbi before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in which they alleged his fitness to practice was impaired due to his conviction. Dr Mwimbi contested the allegations but the MPTS panel has now ruled his fitness to practice is impaired. The panel will now decide what sanctions to impose which include the possibility of striking him from the medical register.
MPTS documents reveal Dr Mwimbi maintains his innocence and, while he accepts his conviction, he disagrees with the guilty verdict. The documents also reveal Dr Mwimbi attempted to apologise to the patient, and the patient’s mother, from his jail cell.
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The ruling states: “He went on to explain he wished to apologise to Patient A’s mother and tried to do that whilst in prison, but he was prevented from having any contact with Patient A or the patient’s mother. Further, Dr Mwimbi said when he was released from prison, he again tried to apologise, but was advised he could not make contact with her.”
The ruling also confirms Dr Mwimbi continued working at Blackpool Victoria Hospital after the incident in August 2021 until January 2022. He only stopped working as a doctor, after working at hospitals on the Isle of Wight and in Scotland, just before his trial last year.
The panel heard one witness to the incident described “feeling scared and very shaken up, to the point she and the second carer were trembling and expressed feeling physically sick”. Another witness was unable to sleep for several days after the assault. One nurse at Blackpool Victoria Hospital voiced concerns “if someone was willing to do this in front of other people, what might happen behind closed doors to other vulnerable patients”.
Dr Mwimbi submitted more than 15 testimonials and character witnesses to the MPTS panel and claimed that he is “highly motivated to continue working as a safe, compassionate, kind, sensitive and effective doctor”. The doctor continues to claim “the incident should not be taken as assault as he was preventing himself from being harmed further by the patient”.
The ruling states: “He submitted he is able to respond to aggressive patients in a much safer way due to the courses he has completed and his experiences and can assure the Tribunal that such behaviour will not be repeated. Dr Mwimbi stated he has taken steps to address the conviction and has undertaken courses to increase his sensitivity and awareness of patients who may not be as responsive.”
The MPTS panel dismissed Dr Mwimbi’s mitigation and found his fitness to practice is impaired. They will now consider what sanctions to impose.