Waverley GP’s ‘sexually motivated’ chest exam found not proved
A GP who denied cupping a patient’s breast throughout a heart examination has been told the allegation can’t be proved, according to a tribunal.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) ruled there was insufficient evidence that a consultation at the Witley and Milford Family Practice in Waverley 10 years ago was sexually motivated.
The tribunal considered both the patient and Dr Ali Abbas, now a partner at Tooting South Medical and Teaching Centre in London, were “equally capable of belief” and so could not “properly and safely find Patient A’s account was more likely than not to be true”.
The patient, who visited the doctor with heart palpitations, alleged that the GP asked her to remove all the top half of her clothes, and while placing his hand on her breast and holding it there, he said: “You’re a fit young girl, you have nothing to worry about,” or words to that effect.
He was referred to the General Medical Council (GMC), which registers medical practitioners, by both the patient and a GP partner at the Witley and Milford practice near Godalming in 2019, after she had seen reports in the news about the case of another doctor involved in similar matters.
Andrew Kennedy QC, on behalf of Dr Abbas, submitted that the patient could not recall what clothing she was asked to remove in 2012.
The GMC’s counsel said that while in her oral evidence she had said she could not remember the exact terms he had used, there was no doubt that she had ended up topless, as she had reported this to a friend shortly afterwards.
She was very clear she would not have removed her bra voluntarily and said “if Dr Abbas has told her to put her bra back on, she would have ‘scrambled’ to do so, as being topless was not part of her personality”.
She said: “As I had been unwell for some time, I had chest examinations from other GPs and I had not taken my bra off, so Dr Abbas must have said something different to make me think that I had to take my bra off too.
“I did not question Dr Abbas about removing all my top half of clothing as he was in a position where you trust that person and do what they ask you to do.”
Mr Kennedy said it would be unsafe to proceed further based on an “inference in relation to what she believes Dr Abbas must have asked”.
Dr Abbas said the allegations “shocked and surprised” him when they were first brought to his attention, nearly eight years after the consultation.
He said he had “absolutely no recollection” of it and so was “reliant upon the notes I made at the time and reference to my usual practice”.
He said there was no need to remove a bra for a routine chest examination and when doing one he just asks patients to remove outer clothing from behind a curtain.
“If contrary to my expectation all upper clothes have been removed, I would suggest she replace her bra or if she preferred not to (or if she wasn’t wearing one) I would offer a chaperone be present,” his statement reads.
“I do have in mind however that she was somewhat distressed prior to the examination, and I may have been conscious that this would delay the examination thus leading to further anxiety.
“Given the examination to my mind was not principally an intimate examination, but merely a routine auscultation of the chest, it may be that I elected in her best interest to proceed to complete that examination so as to be able to give her the reassurance she was seeking.”
He said when listening to the heart there was a chance of brief contact with the breast but nothing more.
“It is possible there may be a transient contact with the breast while auscultating the heart however there is no need to hold or “cup” the breast at all and I deny I did so,” he said.
It was questioned how the doctor could have simultaneously held her breast ‘throughout’ the consultation while using a stethoscope in one hand and taking her pulse with the other.
His statement continues: “I may have said that I thought she was fit and healthy but cannot recall doing so but that was certainly my view following my examination and I considered it appropriate to reassure her particularly as she had been obviously upset and concerned about her symptoms prior to my performing my examination.”
When it was put to him in the hearing that he found the patient attractive, he denied this, saying he could not recall her, and asserted: “I’m a happily married man with the two most beautiful children in the world”.
The tribunal found the allegations not proved and Dr Abbas remains fit to practise.