Dr Nicholas Page is accused of making inappropriate comments and ‘yanking’ down a woman patient’s underwear
A family doctor said ‘let’s get these off then’ as he pulled down a woman’s underwear and touched her genitalia without gloves on, it was claimed today.
Dr Nicholas Page is accused of having ‘yanking’ open the woman’s dressing grown before making inappropriate comments during a consultation at the private practice where he worked in Knightsbridge, west London.
Page, 67, alleged said ‘we don’t get many middle class white girls’ and ‘you’re very exposed down there’ after removing her underwear.
The woman, who was undergoing a compulsory medical examination for a visa ahead of a planned move to the US – fled the practice without comment – but later made a complaint to the General Medical Council.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester heard the woman visited the practice in 2016 and Dr Page was initially polite to her
But, she told the tribunal: ‘I knew the examination included an examination of my chest, my heart and my lungs.
‘He didn’t ask me to undo my gown he did it himself. He put the stethoscope on to my chest area. It was not me that undid the gown, he just pulled it.’
Dr Page was examining a woman trying to get a US visa. He admits touching the woman without gloves but says any comments which offended her were misinterpreted
She added: ‘The underwear I was wearing was just normal briefs, they were just like a bikini fit. Not high waisted or anything. He told me he needed to examine my abdomen. I was lying flat on the bed.
‘I remember the examination of my chest and my genitals… he said ‘let’s get these off then’. He pulled my knickers down but I don’t remember exactly how far down. I just remember he pulled them down with two hands. He put a hand on each side and pulled them down when he said ‘let’s get these off then’.
She said the doctor then touched her genitals externally, adding: ‘The examination was over very fast.’
The woman continued: ‘He then made an inappropriate comment and said I was very exposed down there and he didn’t have to go looking for it.
‘I pulled my underwear back up. He then told me I could get dressed. I got fully dressed behind the curtain and then I came out and sat back on the chair.
‘I didn’t tell reception that had just happened to me. I was embarrassed and wanted to get out of there quickly. I’m sure they would not really care, what are they going to do about it? He’s their employer, what are they going to say about it?
‘Just as a concluding remark, I’m not gaining anything out of doing this. I’m just trying to do the right thing. I’ve no reason to make this up what happened happened and it is what it is.’
Examination took place at a doctors surgery in this building near Harrods in Knightsbridge
Page is a senior partner at Knightsbridge Doctors and qualified in 1972. He admitted examining the woman without gloves and not offering her a chaperone – but he denied sexual misconduct and making inappropriate remarks.
The doctor said he was ‘mortified’ by the woman’s complaint and added: ‘I had taken some pride in seeing ourselves as an old fashioned practice.
‘As regards patients I’ve known very well for years I probably would not mention a chaperone at all.
‘I work on the assumption that the patient knows of the chaperone, they can ask for one if they want one but she hadn’t.
‘It seems crazy I was not really thinking about protecting myself – but I’ve never had any difficulties or problems with anyone, never had anyone who had said anything to me. I foolishly thought I was immune from accusations.
‘Our aim is to see the patients as efficiently and painlessly for them as possible to identify the major things we have to identify. I don’t think I yanked the gown open without any notice and I can’t recall ever yanking her knickers down.’
Dr Page has now been brought before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service based in this building in Manchester
He added: ‘I would have said words like ‘let’s get these knickers off’ because I had to ask her to take her knickers off. It might be a bit insensitive, maybe I should have said ‘do you mind removing your knickers’.
‘None of us like doing the examination, nor do the patients. It was just something the Americans insist on. It would be nothing more than a quick glance. For me it’s a matter of just getting a good view, having a little more than a glance and I have to say being able to tick a box that we have done it.
‘I think there was some kind of movement or reaction from the applicant which caused me to make some kind of reassuring remark like ‘just seeing what I need to’ or ‘I’ve got a good look’ or ‘nearly finished’ to acknowledge that I sensed this. I would not have said I didn’t need to go looking for it.
‘I had no sexual interest in this patient. The examination was mandatory and I can’t see how a genital inspection could be regarded as sexually motivating. There’s nothing really attractive about looking at anyone’s genitals.’
”My practice was out of date when at that time I would have used gloves only for an internal examination. The world has moved on now and that has been amended. I do think my practise fell behind the times.’
The hearing continues.