A DRUNKEN doctor who was unable to turn on his practice computer after long pub lunches has been banned for a year.

Brian Hardy’s work descended into chaos because of his hard drinking, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard.

He forgot appointments, came into work smelling of alcohol and told staff his puppy had kept him up all night.

And Hardy, 56, of Newing Close, Littlebourne, said he could not send cancer patients to see specialists because he did not have a Dictaphone.

The doctor was found guilty of a series of charges by his governing body.

Chairman Ralph Bergman said: "The panel has found that Dr Hardy has repeatedly departed from the requirements of good medical practice and has already found his fitness to practice is impaired."

The panel decided that putting conditions on his practicing would not address the problem.

Mr Bergman added: "Dr Hardy’s failures are serious but not heinous. There have been no allegations of direct patient harm or of seriously deficient performance.

"The panel has determined that on this occasion an order of suspension is a sufficient sanction and would protect both the public and the reputation of the profession.

"The panel considers that it must send an appropriate message to the public, the profession and not least to Dr Hardy, that his behaviour is not acceptable."

Hardy worked as a locum at a string of surgeries where colleagues quickly became aware of his heavy drinking.

Lydia Barnfather, for the GMC, said colleagues at the Northgate Medical Practice in Canterbury, first spotted his drinking problem in May, 2004.

A patient raised concern regarding Hardy’s failure to refer her for specialist treatment and she said at the time of the appointment she detected alcohol on his breath.

Miss Barnfather said: "As time went on, other doctors were made aware of staff’s concern that Hardy was coming to work smelling of alcohol. Once when asked about this, Hardy said he had a late night drinking session the night before with his girlfriend."

Hardy then started working at the Surgery in Margate late that summer where colleagues smelt drink on his breath.

"Soon thereafter problems began to emerge," said Miss Barnfather. "These included a general inability to use a computer, cancelling clinics at short notice, making late referrals for specialist treatment and attending to work smelling of alcohol."

When Hardy’s boss warned him to stay off the booze at lunchtime, he admitted having been pulled up on his drinking at his last job.

After being sacked from the surgery Hardy moved onto the Aylesham Medical Practice and Wingham Surgery.

He would go to the pub promptly after the end of morning surgery and not return for two hours.

Receptionist Mavis Knight told the hearing: "He needed help in the afternoons sometimes with the computer. Although he had trouble with the system he could do a consultation with it in the mornings.

"But in the afternoons he would get lost. He was just not the same in the afternoon. He was totally different. It was like he had not sat at it before. He couldn’t log on or turn it on. He would ask me for help."

Mrs Knight said Hardy would often turn up for work in the morning smelling of booze and looking "awful".

She said: "He was unkempt and sometimes came in unironed shirts. His eyes were very bloodshot. He said he was very tired and he looked it. I could smell alcohol on him when he came into the reception and talked to me."

And the receptionist said she got so frustrated with Hardy’s habit of putting off making urgent specialist appointments for his patients that she told their boss. She told the panel how she had to tell him three or four times to arrange the appointments.

Mrs Knight went on: "I was doing it for the patients. They were coming out of his consultation with more complaints. When I asked him if he had any referrals he would say, 'Yes, I’ll be doing them tomorrow.'

"But he never did. It was always tomorrow, always the same. But I had to prompt him to make the appointments."

When he was working at the practice Hardy delayed arranging for two elderly patients to see a specialist.

One woman with a lump on her breast had to go back and see another doctor to arrange the appointment and the other patient eventually got her appointment because the receptionist continually prompted Hardy to sort it out.

Both patients were diagnosed with cancer. Hardy said he had not seem them because he did not have a Dictaphone.

The doctor denied turning up at work smelling of alcohol and failing to arrange the urgent appointments. He also denied failing to undergo a medical exam, and that his fitness to practice was impaired because of his misconduct.