“To treat chest pain” A doctor had sex with a patient in the restrooms of A&E
After having sex with a woman in the A&E restrooms “to help with her chest pain,” a doctor from north London has been suspended.
Dr. Ewere Onyekpe, a married doctor, was working at Whittington Hospital in Archway on the evening of June 5, 2020, when the female patient initially went to A&E complaining of back pain.
An employment tribunal has heard that even though he discharged her, she provided Dr. Onyekpe a piece of paper with her phone number on it before she left.
Dr. Onyekpe called the patient “pretty” and made touch with her to inquire about how she was feeling.
On June 10, 2020, the patient returned to the A&E department complaining of chest pain. Dr. Onyekpe was on duty at the time, but another physician handled the patient’s care.
When she was in A&E, the patient informed Dr. Onyekpe via WhatsApp.
According to reports, Dr. Onyekpe asked the woman if she had sex and suggested that it would assist with her pain.
Dr. Onyekpe said, “You know I want to…. you but I could get into trouble,” in response to her request for advice.
Then he continued, “In the UK it is not allowed. Doctor and patient.”
At 11.16 p.m., Dr. Onyekpe sent her a message asking if he may have oral sex with her before she left the hospital as the conversation became more explicit.
The patient and Dr. Onyekpe then engaged in consensual sexual activity in the hospital restrooms, at Dr. Onyekpe’s request.
The following day, Dr. Onyekpe returned to the patient’s house and had sex with her once more.
Then there were “inappropriate, sexually motivated” WhatsApp discussions that involved sharing personal information, complimenting the patient, and sharing nude photos while interspersing them with medical advice.
Dr. Onyekpe was detained on August 3, 2020, on suspicion of raping the patient on June 10 of that year, after their connection fizzled out.
In spite of this, the police chose not to pursue any further charges against Dr. Onyekpe in connection with the rape allegation.
In a declaration given to a tribunal last month, Dr. Onyekpe acknowledged all of the accusations while also stating that his wife supported him and highlighting his otherwise “unblemished career.”
Additionally, he has sought counseling from a pastor in the US.
The doctor acknowledged, in the words of his representative, that he ought to have told the patient he was unable to reach her and disregarded the phone number she had provided.
He continued, “I appreciate that what I did was awful and that I let down myself and my family and my colleagues,” in his witness statement.
“I also accept the because the power imbalance between me as a doctor and her of the patient, it can be perceived that I took advantage of my professional position in pursuing this brief sexual relationship, consensual though it may have been.”
The tribunal concluded that the two sexual encounters, one of which took place on the hospital grounds, and the text messages were “deplorable” in character.
It was also mentioned that it would damage the reputation of the medical field.
Dr. Onyekpe was immediately suspended for a period of six months.
He will have the chance to explain how he has thought about his behaviour and why he should be permitted back onto the doctor’s register at a review hearing, which has been set.
