A COLNE GP who falsely claimed cash for patient health checks he never carried out will face a disciplinary hearing of the General Medical Council in London next week.

Dr Shiv Prasad Dey, convicted at Burnley Crown Court in October to 14 counts of furnishing false information, was fined £1,400 and ordered to pay £5,000 legal costs.

He was told he had risked his career and reputation for less than £100.

Now he faces further sanctions when he goes before the doctors' governing body, the Professional Conduct Committee -- a powerful disciplinary committee which could order restrictions or conditions on his work.

The GMC announced it had launched an inquiry into issues surrounding Dr Dey, who took over the 1,200-patient single-handed practice in Burnley Road, Colne, in April 1997, as soon as the court hearing was completed.

A spokesman said then the GMC was aware of the case but added no restriction had been placed on Dr Dey and he was not suspended pending consideration of the matter.

Today a GMC spokesman said the professional conduct committee was the final stage of the GMC's disciplinary procedure and had the power to place conditions on how a doctor works, suspend him or erase him from the GP register.

Dr Dey pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to 14 counts of furnishing false information. The jury was discharged from returning verdicts on 29 similar cases.

He falsified medical records to claim for work he had not done. Dey made records look as if 14 patients had been given a patient registration health screening when he had not.

Dey said extreme pressure of work had caused him to commit the offences.