An experienced ophthalmologist has been suspended after a disciplinary tribunal found she examined patients while wearing blood-stained gloves, contaminating surfaces and putting patients at risk of infection.
Dr Syeda Siddiqui worked as a part-time consultant at the Community Health & Eye Care Centre in Stockport when the incidents took place in 2024. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard she repeatedly breached basic infection control practices at clinics in Stockport and Warrington.
Contamination and Patient Distress
One witness told the tribunal: "Dr Siddiqui was not only examining a patient while wearing visibly soiled gloves, but she was also contaminating everything she touched in process of moving from the operating theatre to the clinical room, such as door handles, worktops, and medical devices."
When asked why she had not removed the gloves, another witness said Dr Siddiqui replied: "This is how I normally do it, it saves me washing my hands."
On December 10, 2024, the tribunal heard she left one patient "clearly distressed" after examining their eyelids while wearing soiled gloves at the company's clinic near Stockport railway station. The patient then faced a three-month wait for test results to show she had not contracted any diseases.
Findings and Impact
Dr Siddiqui later described the incident as "an isolated incident" despite having previously been spoken to about similar hygiene concerns. The MPTS panel ruled that statement was dishonest.
She was also found to have examined two patients while wearing blood-stained gloves at a clinic in Warrington on August 7, 2024. Her actions created "several serious infection control risks" and put patients at risk of "cross-contamination of blood-borne infection," the tribunal heard.
Dr Siddiqui, who qualified as a doctor from Manchester University in 1984 and had more than 30 years of experience, was also found to have taken used medical instruments from the clinic and donated them to a charity she worked with for use overseas. One expert witness told the tribunal that was "never appropriate... under any circumstances," adding: "Surgical instruments, once used, are classified as clinical waste and contaminated medical devices, and are subject to strict decontamination, tracking and disposal or sterilisation protocols."
Tribunal Decision
Hugh Barton, representing the General Medical Council, said Dr Siddiqui risked harming patients and caused "substantial distress and anxiety" to patient D. Vivienne Tanchel, representing Dr Siddiqui, said it was "easy for professionals to become complacent" when performing repetitive tasks, adding: "That complacency has been completely eradicated in the case of Dr Siddiqui for she has gone through the process of this fitness to practise proceedings which have had a profound and distressing impact upon her."
Delivering a finding of misconduct, the MPTS panel described the use of blood-stained gloves as "fundamental and serious breaches of good medical practice." Dr Siddiqui was suspended for six months.
