Doctor threatened to beat up patient . . . police threatened to leave him on the Cat

A disabled man who secretly recorded a doctor threatening to beat him up has received an apology from East Cheshire NHS trust.

David Massey, 54, was involved in a dispute with the doctor when he declined to prescribe him any medication.

David Massey – image BBC

When the police were called, one officer suggested leaving Mr Massey “on the Cat and Fiddle”. Mr Massey also received an apology from the police.

Mr Massey, who has diabetes and chronic back pain, had gone to an out-of-hours clinic at Macclesfield General Hospital in March 2014.

When the doctor refused to give him the pain-relieving patch he wanted, he refused to leave and began recording the conversation on his phone.

Speaking about how he could get Mr Massey to leave the room, the doctor was reportedly heard saying: “I can probably beat you up I suppose.”

Mr Massey replied: “You’re going to beat me up?”, to which the doctor responded: “Yeah”.

It was then, as police officers tried to persuade Mr Massey to leave the hospital, that a policewoman suggested leaving him on the A537 Cat & Fiddle.

An East Cheshire NHS Trust spokesman said the doctor’s behaviour was “isolated but not acceptable”.

“Both the member of staff concerned and the trust chief executive John Wilbraham have given their apologies to Mr Massey,” he added.

A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: “The constabulary regrets the way the comment by the officer made Mr Massey feel and the officer concerned has taken the learning from this incident.”

Mr Massey told the BBC: “I think it is disgraceful really that a doctor can say that to somebody and he’s still practising.”