Doctor ban for sexual remarks

Female patient felt ‘disgusted’

A HOBART doctor has been struck off for making sexual comments to a female patient and repeatedly hugging her, on one occasion saying: “I have recently broken up with my girlfriend and it is nice to feel breasts against me.”

Stuart Lynch – who worked at the Davey Street Medical Centre and the Glenorchy Medical Centre – was found to have transgressed doctorpatient boundaries on a number of occasions between 2013 and 2019.

In a newly published decision, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal said his conduct had impacted an “extremely vulnerable patient”, with comments that had “clear sexual connotations”.

The 54-year-old told the patient “my little girl has grown up” and asked her to “come in with her nurse’s uniform” to show him, describing her “hourglass pear-shaped figure” and saying “we like our women curvy”.

Dr Lynch also said she was “one of the most beautiful girls in the world; she is hot and she looks great for her age”, and asked her to remove her pants for “reasons that were not clinically indicated or justified”.

The tribunal ordered that Dr Lynch be deregistered and reprimanded him, noting he remained a risk to female patients and hadn’t demonstrated genuine insight or remorse into his behaviour.

The tribunal said it rejected Dr Lynch’s attempts to blame the patient, claiming she’d been affected by drugs and alcohol and had misunderstood their interaction.

“Overall, Dr Lynch was an unconvincing witness and the majority of his evidence was a fabrication,” tribunal deputy president Alison Clues said.

“Taken as a whole, Dr Lynch’s conduct seriously undermines public confidence in the medical profession and warrants condemnation by the public and the profession.”

In a statement, the patient said she was “not only disappointed but disgusted” looking back on her time with Dr Lynch.

“I am horrified with how many times I felt like something was wrong and did not speak up,” she said.

Ms Clues also noted Dr Lynch’s disciplinary history dated back to 2015 and was previously required to not see or examine female patients without a chaperone – a condition he breached twice.

The chaperone condition was removed in 2018, with the new complaint made just six months later, and he was suspended in 2019.

“The tribunal is not satisfied that Dr Lynch understands the error of his ways,” Ms Clues said.