Surgeon ‘slept with 3 patients he hounded with sexts’
A TOP breast surgeon abused his position to have sex with three patients after bombarding them with compliments and explicit messages, a tribunal heard.
Dr Olivier Branford, 49, charmed the women to encourage ‘emotional attachment’, it was claimed.
Messages sent by the Cambridge - educated doctor included nude photographs and details of bedroom fantasies.
The married father- of-three told one patient that he wanted to make her his ‘muse’ before they had sex at the Cadogan Clinic, in Chelsea, west London.
He had liaisons with another patient at the clinic, who was married, and with a third patient when it wasn’t ‘clinically advisable’, it was claimed.
Branford, one of Britain’s top plastic surgeons, admitted all but four of 18 charges when appearing before the medical Practitioners’ tribunal service in manchester yesterday.
Ian Brook, for the General medical Council, said a fashion model known as Patient A sought breast reductions due to back and shoulder pain, plus self-esteem issues.
She told Branford she suffered from depression, anxiety and ‘hated the way she looked’. He said he could ‘make her love her body’. messages then became more flirtatious, mr Brook said, with Branford telling Patient A he ‘wanted her to become his muse’ so he could paint her, the panel heard.
Branford admitted having ‘pangs of guilt’ because he did not want to hurt his children.
But he still had sex with her twice at the Cadogan Clinic in August 2019 and again the next month.
The tribunal heard the second patient – a married woman referred to as Patient B – also wanted a breast reduction, which Branford carried out in July 2019. Branford
‘I’m French, so sensuality is good’
called her post- operation breasts ‘perfect’.
In further messages, he declared: ‘i am French, so sensuality is good. You are very desirable and sexy.’
The pair shared fantasies and he sent a ‘naked selfie’.
They had sex in october 2019 but her feelings changed because she felt it was no longer ‘ special between them’, mr Brook said. Patient B reported Branford to the Cadogan Clinic and the General medical Council because she believed it had been an unequal relationship and led to her suffering mental health problems.
Branford went on to allegedly have sex with a third patient – a model known as Patient C – after breast enlargement surgery in February 2020.
He allegedly flirted during initial consultations, then liked her instagram pictures, describing one of her in lingerie and thigh-high boots as ‘elegant’.
Branford advised her to book a ‘false’ appointment and have a ‘shot’ of cognac for anxiety beforehand, it is claimed.
The tribunal heard they had sex even though Branford knew it was not ‘clinically advisable’ for two weeks following breast surgery. Branford admits to fostering an improper emotional relationship with Patients A and B – but not C – and that actions with all three were sexually motivated.
He denies knowing the women were vulnerable due to Patient A’s body dysmorphia, Patient B’s low self-esteem and Patient C’s anxiety.
The surgeon, currently suspended, could be struck off if his fitness to practise is deemed to be impaired.
When the accusations were made in 2020, Branford, who graduated from trinity College, Cambridge, in 1994, lived with his doctor wife in a £2million home in Finsbury Park, north London.
The tribunal continues.