The identities of the complainants, who were all students at the time, and the accused, a ‘Dr. G.’ cannot be published.
The hearing before the Health Practitioners Hearing Tribunal relates to four women, who accuse Dr. G. of touching their breasts under the guise of showing them how to perform a specialised cardio examination to locate the ‘Apex beat’ of the heart. This involves the person doing the examination placing their entire hand on the patient’s chest. The lawyer representing the Medical Council’s Professional Conduct Committee, which is bringing the complaint told the Tribunal all four cases were remarkably similar and had little to no learning benefit for the students.
One complaint told the Tribunal Dr. G. took her to a meeting room where no one was around on her first day and performed the examination. She said, ‘I felt like I’d been groped…’, it felt ‘like sexual touching, not clinical touching… He made me feel scared, powerless and vulnerable.’ Another described how Dr. G. had ‘a strange persistence to perform the examination,’ having done it on her twice. She declined his offers for further examinations.
The hearing continues.
