Ormskirk Hospital doctor Jonathan Chahal took laughing gas

Jul 2 2009 by Liza Williams, Ormskirk Advertiser

A MERSEYSIDE doctor inhaled laughing gas while on duty at a children’s A&E department, a tribunal heard.

Jonathan Chahal, 33, was working at Ormskirk hospital when he took Entonox on several occasions, telling colleagues it was “fun”, and made him feel “floaty”, the General Medical Council (GMC) hearing heard.

It is alleged Dr Chahal behaved in an irresponsible and inappropriate way, but he denies his fitness to practise was impaired.

Counsel for the GMC, Craig Sephton, told the hearing that, on June 28, 2007, nurses heard giggles coming from the resuscitation room of the A&E ward where they found the paediatrician using the drug. He then persuaded them to inhale, too.

One of the nurses, Siobhan Fitzgerald, had already witnessed the University of Liverpool medical graduate inhale once that day with a colleague, at around 2pm.

He is accused of offering the drug to other co-workers on four separate occasions, between June 28, 2007, and August 10, 2007, with four nurses taking up the offer and three declining.

In total, he admits inhaling the drug on four separate occasions, but denies a fifth allegation by nurse Lesley Winrow.