A tribunal has issued a 12-month suspension to an oncologist who did not inform a patient about the results of a CT scan and who prescribed chemotherapy without documenting the consultation.
Dr. Jan Mozny was working as a locum consultant specializing in medical oncology at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, U.K., when the misconduct occurred in March and April 2020.
In a session that ended on 8 November 2024, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard that Mozny failed to dictate correspondence in a timely manner for six patients. In one of these cases, he prescribed chemotherapy, and in another case, he recommended carboplatin, pemetrexed, and pembrolizumab therapy when it was not licensed for squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. For another case, he failed to document the clinical encounter and did not inform the patient about the results of a CT scan.
"Dr. Mozny's actions meant that the clinical staff undertaking the treatment of the patients had no background information and were disadvantaged when delivering cancer treatment without the basic information required," the MPTS noted. "The information within the correspondence was important for the patients' care in order for the clinical staff to make proper assessments and monitor side effects."
The MPTS found that the oncologist's failure to inform the patient about the results of a CT scan was not as serious as the other allegations. "The CT scan results could have been chased by the patient themselves with the general practitioner or with the NHS Trust," it said, adding that this action constituted misconduct but not serious misconduct.
Mozny obtained his medical degree in 1976 at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He has been on the U.K. specialist medical register for clinical oncology since 2011.
In an email to the General Medical Council (GMC) dated 8 October 2024, he stated: "I am working just now on my voluntary withdrawal from GMC register. I will not take a part on any further hearing. I am 72 and I don't have any thoughts about my further work (especially abroad) for which I am not fit due my own health and social problems. Thank you for your understanding."
In spite of sending this message, Mozny did not submit a voluntary erasure application, necessitating the suspension.
The November hearing followed two previous MPTS tribunals that also investigated Mozny's work in March and April 2020. A 2023 tribunal concluded that his overall care of six patients was seriously below the standard expected of a competent consultant in medical oncology. At a second session held in January 2024, Mozny did not provide any evidence of insight or remediation or of how he had kept his medical knowledge and skills up to date.
You can download the full documentation from the MPTS website.
