Dentist who left UK after taking £2,600 from patient is erased from register

Juan Carlos Barreto Rubio ran the Beach Road Dental Care surgery in Beach Road, Littlehampton before it suddenly closed down earlier last year.

He was given the most serious sanction, which means he can no longer practice dentistry in the UK, at a hearing of the General Dental Council’s Professional Conduct Committee on June 28. He had previously been suspended while an investigation was carried out.

In the minutes, published online, the committee said: “The Committee has concluded that Mr Barreto Rubio’s misconduct is so serious that it is fundamentally incompatible with his remaining on the Dentists’ Register.”

According to the dental council, Mr Barreto Rubio accepted £2628 from a patient for dental implants between November 3 and December 15, 2016, while knowing he was bankrupt and failed to complete the work.

From March 3 to May 11, 2017, he also failed to co-operate with a dental council investigation or respond to the patient’s written complaint.

While the council acknowledged ‘the circumstances leading up the bankruptcy of Mr Barreto Rubio’s dental practice were stressful’, there was a ‘wholesale failure to keep patient information secure’ and ‘a persistent lack of insight or acknowledgement of the seriousness of the misconduct’.

Mr Barreto-Rubio did not attend the committee hearing or have any legal representation.

According to the minutes of a previous hearing, Mr Barreto-Rubio is now believed to be living in Tenerife and considers himself retired from dentistry.