According to this report, the unnamed patients was taken by Dr Thomas O’Brien to the  church in Stoke-on-Trent where she was advised that: God is her surgeon and God will heal her.

The General Medical Council has now imposed conditions on his registration for 18 months after it ruled that his professional and private boundaries became “blurred” and that he imposed his religious beliefs on the woman.

The conditions included confining his medical practice to posts within the NHS.  He must also notify the GMC of any professional appointments he accepts and allow the GMC to exchange information with his employer.

The GMC was told the doctor had also sent her books about the church, which he ran with another person, and pamphlets including “An Occult Checklist”.

The woman said she was even subjected to a four-hour “testimony” where an exorcism was performed on January 19.

She claimed that O’Brien specifically told her not to tell her psychiatrist about the meetings – because they “do the devil’s work” – and told her “she would be cursed” if she told the GMC.

The patient ignored this advice and told her psychiatrist, who then rang a confidential helpline to report her allegations.