A DENTIST who worked at a Douglas surgery has been suspended from practising by the General Dental Council (GDC).
The Isle of Man's Department of Health has confirmed Gunter Zimmermann, who was employed by the 65 Woodbourne Dental Surgery, based in Woodbourne Road, has been suspended for six months.
A statement from the department said: "Mr Zimmermann has 28 days in which to appeal against the council's decision but in the meantime has left the practice and is no longer providing dental services to patients.
"The matter which led to his suspension is fully detailed on the General Dental Council website and relates to private treatment which is not available at NHS expense and which was provided in 2006.
"The department is not aware of any other concerns about Mr Zimmermann's professional competence or any problems relating to NHS patients and is working with Mr Van Rooyen, Mr Zimmermann's employer, to ensure that disruption to the dental care of Mr Zimmermann’s NHS patients is minimised."
The charges against Mr Zimmermann related to the treatment of a patient described as "Patient A".
The determination of the GDC said: "Mr Zimmermann admitted the entirety of the charges against him and with the exception of one head of charge the committeee has found them all proved.
"The charges relate to his treatment of Patient A which was deficient in a number of areas.
"Mr Zimmermann's treatment of Patient A in September 2006 included the extraction of teeth, the provision of implants to the upper and lower jaws and the provision of implant supported restorations, in particular an upper bridge.
"He failed to obtain the patient's social history, dental history or requirements and expectations to support this course of treatment.
"He also failed to take adequate steps to obtain the patient's informed consent to the treatment in that he did not discuss the treatment options available to her, did not discuss the risks associated with the treatment in sufficient detail and did not provide the patient with a proper written treatment plan.
"The permanent, rather than temporary, cementation of the bridge was not in the patient's best interests and was undertaken without her knowledge.
"Throughout the treatment described above Mr Zimmermann's record keeping was poor from the outset in that he failed to record adequately the patient's medical history, social history, dental history, requirements and expectations and findings of oral examinations.
"He continued to fail to record full details of subsequent consultations throughout the course of treatment.
"Mr Zimmermann admitted - and it was found proved - that he allowed his claims made indemnity insurance to lapse on 17 April 2008 and did not purchase run-off cover despite the advice of his insurers to do so.
"He was therefore uninsured for the purposes of Patient A's claim which was made in August 2008.
"He failed to inform her of this fact promptly or at all."
