18 November 2014
The RCVS Disciplinary Committee on Friday [14 November 2014] directed that a veterinary surgeon from Dundalk, Co Louth, should be restored to the RCVS Register, having been removed in 2005 for serious professional misconduct.
Denis Patrick Cronin was originally struck off the Register of Veterinary Surgeons in February 2005 having been found guilty of seven separate charges of serious professional misconduct. At the time, he was based in the West Midlands.
The Committee takes the view that the Applicant who appears before it today is likely to be a wholly different person to the person before the Committee in 2005. He recognises his limitations, his interests and his priorities.
These charges included euthanising a cat in an inappropriate place (his own car) and when consent was in doubt; failing to adequately explain the treatment of an animal to a client; threatening and abusive behaviour towards complainants and employees; failing to respond promptly to requests from the RCVS regarding complaints; and, inappropriate handling and transportation of animals, including the use of excessive force on a dog.
Mr Cronin’s original application for restoration to the Register commenced in June 2014, but was adjourned due to the Committee’s concerns about the future welfare of animals should Mr Cronin be restored to the Register; his efforts to keep up to date in terms of skills and developments in practice since his removal from the Register; and, the need to ensure public protection.
The Committee detailed a range of evidence that Mr Cronin should compile to support a properly planned return to practice programme, and adjourned the hearing for three months to allow him the time to do so.
However, at Friday’s hearing, the Committee had first to consider a submission from the College that Mr Cronin was currently practising as a veterinary surgeon at a practice in Omeath, contrary to the evidence he gave in June 2014. It concluded that there was no compelling evidence to support this allegation and accepted his denial of it.
The Committee proceeded to consider the efforts to which Mr Cronin had gone to address the concerns it raised in June.
It found he had undertaken over 100 hours of continuing professional development, deriving ‘considerable and up to date knowledge’; he had developed an understanding of the limitations of his practice and accepted that he should concentrate principally on his specific practice interest (racing greyhounds and pigeons); he stated his intention not to undertake surgery and to avoid working in isolation by joining a general practice; and, he had spent much time observing the practice of other veterinary surgeons.
As Mr Cronin had been suffering from a psychiatric illness in 2005, the Committee had, in June 2014, been principally concerned about the protection of the public.
It was therefore reassured on Friday to receive positive reports from two separate doctors working under consultant psychiatrist Dr Geraldine Lyster, and to hear encouraging accounts from Dr Kevin Dodd and Professor Robert Wall, who together represented Mr Cronin’s ongoing support team.
He was also complying with the medication regime prescribed for him, and described consistently to the Committee the strategies he would deploy to address stressful situations and anger management. His enthusiasm and levels of engagement with audiences at public meetings was reportedly most impressive.
Noting that Mr Cronin’s clinical skills were not amongst the principal concerns when he appeared before the Committee in 2005, it concluded that the future welfare of animals would not be at risk, should he be restored to the Register.
It also noted that he enjoyed significant public support, both from those whose animals he had treated in the past, and those in the greyhound racing and pigeon fancying fraternities.
Judith Webb, chairing the Disciplinary Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee takes the view that the Applicant who appears before it today is likely to be a wholly different person to the person before the Committee in 2005. He recognises his limitations, his interests and his priorities (which include caring for his elderly mother and aunt).
“... the Committee allows [Mr Cronin’s] application and directs the Registrar to restore him to the Register. In so doing it acknowledges that there will be no restrictions on his practice, save those which he will impose upon himself.”
The Committee’s full findings and decision are available on the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary).