An osteopath has escaped with a warning after he performed a treatment on a West End performer without consent which caused her lung to collapse.

Timothy Gale did not tell the actress, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that a collapsed lung was a risk associated with dry needling but carried out the treatment anyway, causing her to be hospitalised.

A tribunal heard the actress did not consent to the treatment, which involves a thin needle being inserted into a band of tight or irritated muscle tissue, and a panel found Mr Gale behaved with unacceptable professional conduct.

The actress, who has featured in West End musicals, visited Mr Gale - who was the lead practitioner at Fix Me Clinic in London - in January 2024 while suffering from back pain after being injured during a pantomime the previous month.

She had previously been seen by him in 2019 and 2022, telling the tribunal she had a good relationship with him.

During her second session in 2024 Mr Gale gave her the dry needling treatment because he thought it would be 'beneficial'.

But when she returned home she had shortness of breath and pain which spread round her side to her front and became worse.

When she complained to Mr Gale of chest pain when breathing he told her simply to rest.

After the pain worsened later in the day she went to A&E, where she had an X-ray and a CT scan.

Doctors found she had an acute pneumothorax, which can be life-threatening.

Mr Gale admitted his 'familiarity' with the patient 'superseded his professionalism' and conceded he had not obtained consent from the actress, which would have involved telling her of the risks.

He said he should have told her that she had a collapsed lung and should seek emergency medical treatment.

But he said serious consequences of dry needling were low and happened on less than 0.1 per cent of occasions.

The actress told the tribunal she might have had the dry needling treatment before, when she injured her ankle in 2019. 

Mr Gale's biography page on his clinic's website reads: 'He believes good communication is very important in healthcare and strives to make his patients feel as comfortable as they can in the clinic environment.'

He is also described as 'an open-minded, holistic and patient practitioner; involved in promoting health and self management in all patients from all background[s] and age'.

According to the website Mr Gale has a 'career history in musical theatre which lends itself to now being heavily involved in treating members of the performing arts industry for a wide range of presentations'.

It continues: 'Tim uses his natural empathy and instinct to look beyond each patient’s symptoms and treat the primary cause of pain.'

A panel of the General Osteopathic Council ruled Mr Gale's behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct, leaving the patient at 'serious risk of harm' after he 'allowed his friendship' with her to 'affect the way in which he treated her'.

The tribunal noted he fully admitted the allegations and displayed genuine remorse for his actions.

Andrew Harvey, chair of the panel, said: 'The Committee took into account the submissions of both Counsel and exercised its judgment to assess whether the actions of [Mr Gale] amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.

'It noted [in his] evidence that his familiarity with [the patient] had superseded his professionalism.

'As a result he failed to obtain her fully informed consent to dry needling and this was a breach of A4 of the Standards.

'In addition his failure to advise [the patient] to seek medical assistance was in breach of A5 of the Standards.

'Having regard to all these factors the Committee find that the facts found proved support a finding of unacceptable professional conduct.'

The tribunal decided to admonish Mr Gale because it was an isolated incident and he had a previously good character.

Mr Harvey said: 'The Committee accept that this experience has had a profound effect on [Mr Gale] and that, as time has passed, he has learnt from his mistakes and made a genuine effort to remediate his failings.

'It considers that, while his insight is still developing, he has remediated and the risk of repetition is low.

'A finding of unacceptable professional conduct is itself a significant reflection of the concerns identified in this case.

'The Committee approached the issue of sanctions in ascending order and decided that it would be sufficient and in the public interest to admonish [him].

'Its conclusion on proportionality was supported by its assessment that, in the light of the remediation and the low risk of repetition, the imposition of conditions on [his] registration would serve no useful purpose and that suspension of his registration would be punitive and therefore disproportionate.'