Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service determination — substantive hearing
Suspended from practice — 5 months
The regulator’s term: suspension
What does “suspended from practice” mean?
A suspension is a fixed-term pause on the right to practise. The practitioner cannot work in the regulated profession during the suspension. At the end of the period the suspension may be extended, replaced with another sanction, or lifted on review.
Concerning Helen Eisenhauer, doctor (General Medical Council 7420494).
Decision date: 9 December 2025 · Hearing started 1 December 2025 and ended 9 December 2025
This sanction period has elapsed.
In plain English
The MPTS tribunal found that Dr Eisenhauer, a GP in Nottingham, engaged in dishonesty on 17 and 19 July 2024 by booking fictitious face-to-face appointments and then making a false retrospective entry in a patient's medical records. She admitted all the allegations. The tribunal found her fitness to practise was impaired at a medium level of risk and imposed a 5-month suspension with a review hearing directed. No immediate order was imposed.
Charges
The GMC alleged that on 17 July 2024, while working at Stenhouse Medical Centre, Dr Eisenhauer booked a face-to-face appointment for Patient A when one was not required, then substituted Patient B into that slot when Patient B also did not require a face-to-face appointment, knowing these were not genuine appointments. The GMC further alleged that on 19 July 2024, Dr Eisenhauer accessed Patient B's medical records and made a retrospective entry stating she had seen and examined Patient B on 17 July 2024, knowing this to be false. All allegations, including findings of dishonesty, were admitted and found proved.
Findings
The Tribunal found that Dr Eisenhauer's conduct amounted to serious misconduct involving dishonesty in a medical setting in relation to patient care. It found her fitness to practise was impaired at a medium level of risk to public protection. The Tribunal noted her insight, while developing, was recent and not yet complete, with her first formal expression of candour in a statement dated October 2025, over a year after the events. A 5-month suspension with a review hearing was imposed. No immediate order was made.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
Dr Eisenhauer admitted all allegations at the outset of the hearing. She expressed deep regret and shame for her conduct. She had over 12 years of practice with no previous fitness to practise concerns. The events were an isolated incident out of character, occurring during a period of stress related to childcare responsibilities and sleep deprivation. Positive testimonials were provided by colleagues and employers who were aware of the allegations. She had undertaken CPD and reflected on the misconduct. The Tribunal found a repetition of such misconduct was unlikely.
Aggravating factors
Dr Eisenhauer engaged in three acts of dishonesty in a short period, with the third instance — falsifying a patient medical record — being premeditated. She lied to colleagues in an investigation meeting and her self-referral to the GMC did not accurately reflect what she knew she had done. Her insight was not fully developed at the time of the hearing.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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