Blackpool doctor who was jailed for punching dementia patient struck off medical register

A doctor who was jailed for punching a dementia patient has been struck off the medical register.

Xowi Mwimbi attacked a patient during an incident at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2021. Dr Mwimbi, a locum, had been warned by a student nurse that the patient’s complex condition could cause outbursts..

When the locum doctor approached the hospital patient on August 26, the patient made a racial comment and told Dr Mwimbi to leave the room – but he retaliated by pushing the man’s head and then punching him in the face.

In a police interview, Dr Mwimbi said the patient had hit him and racially abused him so he had acted in self-defence. He was “surprised and shocked to hear the care staff present were telling stories about him and that it is all a figment of their imagination”.

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. The 68-year-old was jailed for 12 months in May 2024.

Following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in Manchester last week Dr Mwimbi’s fitness to practice was found to be impaired and this week he was erased from the medical register with immediate effect. The doctor was also immediately suspended.

MPTS documents revealed that Dr Mwimbi maintains his innocence and, while he accepts his conviction, he disagrees with the guilty verdict. The ruling also revealed that Dr Mwimbi attempted to apologise to the patient, and the patient’s mother, from his jail cell.

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 General Medical Council submitted that given the facts found proven in this case and the sanction imposed, an immediate order of suspension is necessary in order to protect members of the public and to protect public confidence in the medical profession.

In its ruling the MPTS panel said: “The tribunal found that Dr Mwimbi’s conviction is a serious breach of good medical practice and breached fundamental tenets of the medical profession. Members of the public and members of the profession would find the conduct deplorable and expect that the sanction would reflect the gravity of the offence.

In all the circumstances, the tribunal determined that no lesser sanction than erasure would adequately promote and maintain public confidence in the medical profession and promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for members of that profession. The only proportionate sanction is one of erasure