A doctor who diagnosed a woman with heartburn only for her to then undergo emergency surgery to remove a gall bladder has closed his surgery.

Dr Uday Abhyankar has been told he failed to carry out basic tests on the patient when she visited his surgery in Hamstead Road, Great Barr, or on two subsequent visits to her home and she was eventually admitted to Sandwell General Hospital with kidney failure.

The GP was found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC) and is to close his Great Barr practice, leaving 1,400 patients to find an alternative practice.

He will continue to work at his main surgery in Handsworth, Birmingham, but said he could not provide the necessary quality of care across two practices. The GMC heard that the woman, known only as Mrs M, visited his Great Barr surgery in November 2003 with pains in her chest.

He failed to carry out an examination or check her blood pressure, pulse or temperature, or obtain a full medical history, before diagnosing heartburn, the GMC panel heard. He prescribed anti-ulcer pills and recommended she take Rennies.

In February 2004 she requested a home visit after suffering violent stomach and back pains.

Dr Abhyankar prescribed different tablets but again failed to examine her.

He was called to the house the following day, changing her medication again and prescribed painkillers. That evening Mrs M was admitted to Sandwell General Hospital with severe pancreatitis and renal failure. She subsequently underwent surgery to remove her gall bladder.

The GMC criticised Dr Abhyankar’s failure to make a full medical note after his visits, on one occasion not until seven hours later, after he had seen 15 other patients.

They noted that on his second home visit he checked Mrs M’s temperature simply by placing the back of his hand against her forehead.

They said his note of “pain abdo” fell far short of the detail necessary to describe the type of pain Mrs M was suffering.

The GMC said the misconduct was not sufficient to warrant Dr Abhyankar being struck off but they ruled that his fitness to practice was impaired and imposed conditions on his registration for two years.

Dr Abhyankar told the Express & Star: “I have decided that the branch surgery based at Great Barr will be closed as I feel that I am no longer able to provide the full range of services across the two sites.

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly and I have consulted with the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust (PCT) who have been involved with the decision and process since day one.”