Doctor cleared over claim about intimate exam
INCONSISTENCIES IN ALLEGATION BY PATIENT AND PARTNER OVER ‘SEXUALLY MOTIVATED’ CHECK
A MEDICAL tribunal has cleared a doctor who had been accused of carrying out a sexually motivated examination of a patient.
Dr Bhavin Doshi was accused of carrying out an unnecessary internal examination of the woman.
But a hearing by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service concluded the woman’s story, which was backed up by her partner, who was present, was not convincing.
The doctor had denied a vaginal examination was made of the patient, who was there about a urinary tract infection.
The tribunal cleared the doctor, who at the time was practising as a salaried out-of-hours GP at Westcotes Medical Centre in Leicester.
It found there were inconsistencies in the version of events of Patient A, and her partner, Mr B.
The allegation had been that on June 2, 2019 “Dr Doshi obtained consent for, and carried out, a vaginal examination when it was not clinically indicated for Patient A’s presenting complaint, on the pretext that the examination would determine whether Patient A’s fallopian tubes were open or closed.
“It is alleged that after carrying out the examination, Dr Doshi reassured Patient A there was no cause for concern, despite knowing that a vaginal examination alone could not determine any potential fertility problems.
“Furthermore, it is alleged that Dr Doshi failed to record the examination and that his conduct was sexually motivated and dishonest.”
But after concluding the hearing on Friday of last week, the tribunal has now published its findings, which state: “While it has identified several matters where Patient A and Mr B are consistent in their accounts, it was of real concern to the tribunal that Mr B did not acknowledge that there was any discussion about Patient A’s fertility in his presence, nor that Dr Doshi reassured Patient A that she could conceive, nor that they were happy to receive this news.
“This troubled the tribunal because the entire rationale for the alleged intimate examination was Patient A’s anxiety about conceiving.
“The tribunal also noted that Patient A and Mr B were unable to describe the instrument which Dr Doshi allegedly inserted into Patient A’s vagina with any consistency and without any specificity.
“The best they could both say was that the instrument was, or appeared to be, metal.
“This represented a significant issue in the case, not only because of the vagueness of their description of the instrument but also because the surgery did not stock such equipment at that time.”