I have bachelor blood
What married GP accused of groping women at surgery is said to have told one victim
A MARRIED GP made sexual advances to a medical student and five other staff at his surgery, claiming ‘I have bachelor blood in me’, a tribunal heard.
Despite his wife working as a nurse at the practice, Dr Shiv Bagchi repeatedly tried to kiss or cuddle up to six women there, it was claimed.
The 68-year- old allegedly told some he loved them, and claimed he had a dream the practice manageress was ‘dancing round a pole wearing knee-high leather boots to entice patients’.
One woman allegedly got emails and notes from Bagchi in which he referred to her as ‘CrazyB 2’ and himself as ‘CrazyB 1.’ One read: ‘CrazyB 1 loves CrazyB 2.’ He also asked female colleagues to help him look at flats because he and his wife slept apart and he was planning to leave her as he led a ‘single man’s life’, it was claimed.
Bagchi, who ran the Pallion Health Centre in Sunderland, was reported to the General Medical Council after the medical student cut short her placement and reported him to her tutor.
She claimed the GP had told her: ‘I get urges like any man – you should only have sex with someone you know.’ Thomas Moran, counsel for the GMC, said: ‘He then cuddled her and kissed her on her cheek.’
After the student reported him the five other staff came forward.
It was claimed at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing in Manchester that the incidents occurred between 2009 and 2015 after Bagchi’s sole practice merged with a larger surgery.
The fourth-year medical student, who was due to get married, was assigned to the practice for a sixweek placement in February 2015. Mr Moran said Bagchi subjected her to an ‘entirely inappropriate’ impromptu examination after she asked him about hernias.
‘He told her to lie down on the examination bed,’ Mr Moran said. ‘He then put his hand underneath the waist band of her trousers and moved it to her groin area. This was not about wanting to help her understand different types of hernias – it was about obtaining some sort of sexual gratification under the cover of some sort of demonstration.
‘He said, “this is your pubic bone and this is your groin,” and she felt very embarrassed.’
In another encounter the doctor began talking to the student about the nature of relationships. Mr Moran said: ‘He went on to tell her she was a beautiful person and anyone would be proud to go out with her. He then mentioned he had bachelor blood in him.’
The practice manageress claimed Bagchi repeatedly tried to kiss her. She alleged his remark about knee-high boots came after she jokingly offered to go out in the street wearing a tabard to try to get the surgery more patients.
Bagchi admits being ‘tactile’ but denies sexually motivated misconduct. The hearing continues.