The ‘Wonderbra technique of groping doctor’
A SENIOR doctor leered at naked patients and fondled their breasts while they were under anaesthetic, a medical tribunal has been told. Dr Stephen Graham, 54, pushed the breasts of one sedated woman together and then turned to colleagues and explained: ‘It’s a Wonderbra technique.’
On another occasion he allegedly shone a light on to a naked patient, for no medical reason, and stared over the shoulder of a nurse during the procedure.
In a separate incident he is said to have taken off the theatre gown of an unconscious patient before repeatedly cupping her breasts during an examination.
Nurses shocked by his behaviour eventually complained to hospital bosses. Yesterday the consultant appeared before a General Medical Council tribunal where he faced misconduct charges.
If they are proved, Graham, who has more than 25 years’ experience in hospital medicine, could be struck off.
The hearing was told that Graham, a consultant anaesthetist based at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, specialises in scoliosis – a condition in which a person’s spine is curved from side to side. In serious cases it often requires surgery to correct.
Nurses at the hospital made complaints about him following alleged incidents involving seven patients dating back to March 2006.
Bernadette Baxter, for the GMC, said nurses had concerns he was behaving in a sexually motivated way towards women patients. Graham is accused of touching a sedated patient’s breasts inappropriately while checking if she was lying on a special operating mattress correctly.
The ‘Montreal Mattress’ has a cut out section to prevent any pressure building up on a patient’s breasts during surgery on the spine. But a member of staff said she saw the doctor put his hands under the bed and pull the patient’s breasts up and then push them both together.
When he was questioned about this, Miss Baxter said Graham explained it was ‘a Wonderbra technique and gestured with his own hands pushing upwards and inwards’.
Miss Baxter said one sedated young woman being treated for scoliosis was inappropriately stared at by the doctor as she was being prepared for theatre.
Nurse Deborah Troy complained that for no apparent reason the doctor moved the patient’s legs and shone an examination light on her crotch. She said the consultant anaesthetist then stood staring as the nurse prepared the patient for surgery.
Nurse Troy was said to be surprised and asked the doctor exactly what he was doing. Miss Baxter continued: ‘Dr Graham didn’t respond, didn’t switch the light off or remove it and effectively stared at the patient’s naked vaginal area.
‘Deborah Troy didn’t understand why the doctor was there. He didn’t explain why he’d done what he was doing.’ On another occasion nurse Karen Dawson complained Graham had inappropriately touched a woman’s breasts while the patient was sedated. She said she and other staff had been moving the patient in the recovery bay after surgery.
Miss Baxter said: ‘Karen Dawson saw that Dr Graham effectively used his hand to cup the whole of the patient’s right breast with his other hand on the opposite side of her body, the rib cage area.
‘With his hands in that position he effectively moved the patient from side to side and then stood back effectively to see if her breasts were straight.
‘There was absolutely no clinical need for that action to be undertaken and no circumstances that Karen Dawson could see that it was appropriate for the doctor to have touched the patient’s breasts in the way that he had.’
In another incident, Miss Dawson claimed Graham ran his fingers along her spine after she asked him a medical question. Miss Baxter said he ran his hand or fingers along the length of her spine, from her neck to a couple of inches above her coccyx.
She added: ‘ This touching was not necessary to answer the question and she was shocked and uncomfortable at the closeness of Dr Graham and the fact that he had touched her in what she regarded as quite an intimate way.’
The GMC hearing in Manchester was told that in another claim Dr Graham removed the theatre gown of a sedated patient and inappropriately touched her breasts.
Miss Baxter said: ‘ He took off the theatre gown so that the patient was completely naked and placed it at the side of her as she was unconscious. He didn’t just listen with his stethoscope. He took hold of the patient’s breasts, cupping them in both hands.’
Dr Graham is accused of doing this six times, alternating between holding the patient’s breasts and listening with his stethoscope.
Graham denies misconduct. The hearing continues.