Doctor struck off from medical register after causing ‘distress’ to colleague

A doctor, accused of causing “distress” to a colleague has been struck off from the UK’s medical register.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled that Bhikhubhai Patel left his bedroom door open when he was naked in his Southend Hospital accommodation on Balmoral Road in July 2020 exposing himself to a female colleague.

His colleague said in a witness statement: “I first saw Dr Patel at the beginning of July 2020 as I was going to one of the cupboards on my floor to get something.”

“I noticed Dr Patel was laying down on his bed naked with his door open in the middle of the afternoon,” she claimed, adding the incident “caused me great distress especially since I was the only female doctor on my floor and made me feel vulnerable.”

Patel, however, denied the allegations, saying he was “never naked” when his bedroom door was open, “as I would always at least have a top and shorts on.”

“I would point out that I lived in that accommodation for several months, and no one else has ever suggested that there was any concern about seeing me naked,” he said in a statement.

But the tribunal ruled that the allegations were proved, along with further allegations he had slapped the same colleague on March 24, 2021, Echo reported.

Lawyer Emsley-Smith who represented the General Medical Council said the doctor’s colleague “changed her routines to avoid him and felt compelled to complain to others” following the incident.

“Dr Patel’s conduct, by repeatedly leaving the door open in shared accommodation when he was naked and ignoring repeated requests to stop, was deplorable, rude and entitled conduct and constitutes serious misconduct,” Emsley-Smith said.