Geraint Hughes inquest: Question raised whether GP given "undue trust" to care for wife

Family members questioned health professionals at Feock GP Geraint ‘Tiger’ Hughes’ inquest in Truro today.

The issue of whether his wife Marion, a former GP herself, was properly assessed as being a risk to others was also raised.

Doctor Hughes’ brother-in-law John Thompson spoke on behalf of the family.

He said: “Did the fact that both of them were doctors themselves have some bearing on how their treatment and management was taken?

“Did it result in some undue trust being taken in Geraint Hughes’ ability to handle his wife?”

Consultant psychiatrist Damian Clifford assessed Marion when she was admitted to hospital twice in the years before killing her husband.

Dr Clifford said that he would not have treated his enquiries any differently if the pair were not doctors. 

Asked by acting senior coroner Andrew Cox whether he would have treated the patient differently if she were not a doctor, he said: "Every patient’s treated differently because they’re all different."

He added: “Surprisingly they didn’t express a view on care and medication choices, apart from Marion expressing concern about increasing doses affecting her weight.

“She wasn’t a professional patient: demanding, telling me what to do, which I was quite surprised about.”

The psychiatrist added that his main concern after releasing Marion was for her own safety, not for that of her husband.

He said: “There was nothing in their interaction that made it cross my radar. If it had I would have asked.

“In hindsight now if I could go back I would have asked those questions.”

Dr Clifford conceded that he knew Marion was worried about her husband having an affair, but framed this by saying “It was one of a number of worries, Marion was worried about everything.”

He said that Marion’s main delusion, for example, was that she was facing financial ruin when in fact her husband confirmed that this was not the case.

The inquest continues.