Lankan doctor accused of sexually assaulting pregnant patients
August 9, 2011 10:41 am
A Sri Lankan doctor in UK was yesterday accused of sexually assaulting two pregnant patients during intimate examinations and attempting to kiss a midwife on the breast.
Priyantha Kandanearachchi told one woman in her 39th week of pregnancy, ‘This is going to be the most pleasurable experience of your life’, before conducting an internal examination, a disciplinary panel heard.
The locum obstetrician later allegedly squeezed a second pregnant patient’s bottom while he tried to examine her. He is then said to have ‘groped’ a midwife by pulling her to him and kissing her breast through her tunic.
An investigation later suggested there might have been ‘cultural issues’ over his behaviour, the hearing was told.
The doctor, who qualified from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka in 1994, was accused of sexual misconduct at a General Medical Council hearing in Manchester yesterday.
The heavily pregnant patient, known only as Patient LB, was using crutches when she visited the doctor at Penarth Hospital near Cardiff in October 2008.
Dr Kandanearachchi performed an intimate internal procedure known as a ‘stretch and sweep’ designed to help induce labour.
‘The procedure required the patient to remove her lower clothing,’ Simon Jackson, QC, told the hearing. ‘She felt vulnerable and embarrassed.
‘The doctor told her that it would be the most pleasurable experience of her life or words to that effect.
‘Despite the patient being in a state of undress and having some difficulty dressing, the doctor attempted to pull up her trousers for her and patted her on the bottom.’
She complained, but his version of events was that she had asked if the procedure was going to be painful and he had replied that it would not be the most pleasurable thing she could think of, the hearing was told.
He admitted helping her pull up her trousers and said he patted her on the bottom to ‘reassure’ her.
The tribunal heard the second complaint, by a pregnant woman known as Patient JT, came after she visited Neath and Port Talbot Hospital in February last year for a scan.
She said she was seen by Dr Kandanearachchi on her way from collecting medical notes. She claimed the doctor asked to look at her notes and then did a medical examination as she was standing up. Mr Jackson said: ‘He placed one hand on her stomach and with the other hand he grabbed hold of, and squeezed, one of her buttocks.
‘The patient should have been examined while lying on a couch. There was no basis for taking hold of her buttock.’
Investigated again, Dr Kandanearachchi accepted he should have examined the patient in a consulting room.
But he suggested she had complained because he had spoken to her abruptly about smoking during pregnancy.
He was placed on a supervisory programme and told he would need a chaperone for examinations.
Mr Jackson said both incidents displayed sexually motivated behaviour.
In July last year, at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, a midwife known as Witness AG said the doctor had groped her in an office.
She said she had ‘bleeped’ him to help a patient in the labour ward but he did not respond so she went to look for him.
Mr Jackson said: ‘He ignored her request for assistance and pulled his chair toward her. He put both his arms around her waist.
The doctor also allegedly obtained her mobile number and called and texted her to ask her not to pursue a complaint.
Dr Sally Davies, of the Wales Deanery, which monitors doctors in Wales, investigated the earlier complaints. She told the tribunal that with the second complaint it was felt that there may have been ‘cultural issues’.
Dr Davies said the doctor’s version of the midwife incident was that she had put her arm on his shoulder and that his head had accidentally brushed against her.
Dr Kandanearachchi, of Bridgend, denies misconduct.
The hearing continues, The Daily Mail reports.
Priyantha Kandanearachchi told one woman in her 39th week of pregnancy, ‘This is going to be the most pleasurable experience of your life’, before conducting an internal examination, a disciplinary panel heard.
The locum obstetrician later allegedly squeezed a second pregnant patient’s bottom while he tried to examine her. He is then said to have ‘groped’ a midwife by pulling her to him and kissing her breast through her tunic.
An investigation later suggested there might have been ‘cultural issues’ over his behaviour, the hearing was told.
The doctor, who qualified from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka in 1994, was accused of sexual misconduct at a General Medical Council hearing in Manchester yesterday.
The heavily pregnant patient, known only as Patient LB, was using crutches when she visited the doctor at Penarth Hospital near Cardiff in October 2008.
Dr Kandanearachchi performed an intimate internal procedure known as a ‘stretch and sweep’ designed to help induce labour.
‘The procedure required the patient to remove her lower clothing,’ Simon Jackson, QC, told the hearing. ‘She felt vulnerable and embarrassed.
‘The doctor told her that it would be the most pleasurable experience of her life or words to that effect.
‘Despite the patient being in a state of undress and having some difficulty dressing, the doctor attempted to pull up her trousers for her and patted her on the bottom.’
She complained, but his version of events was that she had asked if the procedure was going to be painful and he had replied that it would not be the most pleasurable thing she could think of, the hearing was told.
He admitted helping her pull up her trousers and said he patted her on the bottom to ‘reassure’ her.
The tribunal heard the second complaint, by a pregnant woman known as Patient JT, came after she visited Neath and Port Talbot Hospital in February last year for a scan.
She said she was seen by Dr Kandanearachchi on her way from collecting medical notes. She claimed the doctor asked to look at her notes and then did a medical examination as she was standing up. Mr Jackson said: ‘He placed one hand on her stomach and with the other hand he grabbed hold of, and squeezed, one of her buttocks.
‘The patient should have been examined while lying on a couch. There was no basis for taking hold of her buttock.’
Investigated again, Dr Kandanearachchi accepted he should have examined the patient in a consulting room.
But he suggested she had complained because he had spoken to her abruptly about smoking during pregnancy.
He was placed on a supervisory programme and told he would need a chaperone for examinations.
Mr Jackson said both incidents displayed sexually motivated behaviour.
In July last year, at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, a midwife known as Witness AG said the doctor had groped her in an office.
She said she had ‘bleeped’ him to help a patient in the labour ward but he did not respond so she went to look for him.
Mr Jackson said: ‘He ignored her request for assistance and pulled his chair toward her. He put both his arms around her waist.
The doctor also allegedly obtained her mobile number and called and texted her to ask her not to pursue a complaint.
Dr Sally Davies, of the Wales Deanery, which monitors doctors in Wales, investigated the earlier complaints. She told the tribunal that with the second complaint it was felt that there may have been ‘cultural issues’.
Dr Davies said the doctor’s version of the midwife incident was that she had put her arm on his shoulder and that his head had accidentally brushed against her.
Dr Kandanearachchi, of Bridgend, denies misconduct.
The hearing continues, The Daily Mail reports.
