Wigan doctor suspended over 'sexual misconduct'
Dr Khush Bakhat Muhammad Zeeshan had denied the allegations against him
A ‘predatory’ Wigan doctor used colleagues’ medical conditions for his own ‘gratification’.
Dr Khush Bakhat Muhammad Zeeshan conducted ‘sexually motivated examinations’ on two junior colleagues at the A&E department of the Royal Edward Infirmary, in Wigan, a tribunal has found. His conduct has been slammed as ‘predatory’ and ‘opportunistic’ by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.
The incidents occurred in 2021 after the women had spoken of their health concerns in front of him, with Zeeshan then offering them assistance with these. He sexually touched the women, including on the breasts and bottom, during the treatment.
Zeeshan had denied the allegations against him.
One of the two women, named just as Ms B in the report, had complained of back pain, with Zeeshan then offering to ‘manipulate’ her back. The tribunal found, ‘on the balance of probabilities, he went on to straddle her and to touch her on the bottom and under her clothes.
A medical expert told the panel there was no reason for Zeeshan to do these things as part of ‘any standard musculoskeletal spinal manipulation technique’.
The second woman, Ms A, was speaking to other colleagues about a swollen lymph node in her groin. Zeeshan then offered to check her armpits for lumps. Ms A said he told her she had a ‘higher risk of breast cancer’ as a woman, and she accepted the exam because he was a ‘trusted medical professional’.
The panel found, ‘on the balance of probabilities’, Zeeshan went on to examine her breasts to which Ms A said she had not expected or consented. While a medical expert said the breast exam was part of a ‘competent’ procedure of this type, he added it was not ‘reasonable’ to do this without ‘explicit consent’.
The panel judged: “Had Dr Zeeshan’s intention simply been to do an appropriate clinical examination including axilla and breasts, he would have done so with appropriate explanation and consent and explained the need to expose the breasts from the beginning …
“Dr Zeeshan availed himself of the opportunity afforded him by learning of Ms A’s history of problems with lymph nodes to offer an examination of her armpit and then to proceed, without her consent, to touch her breasts in a manner which, while possibly consistent with a clinical motive, was primarily motivated by the pursuit of his own sexual gratification.”
Zeeshan was judged to have ‘exploited the health concerns of two female junior colleagues’, with the panel ruling this ‘serious misconduct’.
It added: “His behaviour was predatory and opportunistic.”
However, a representative for Zeeshan told the panel the Dr had continued to work at the hospital in the five years since the incidents were first raised. There had been no further complaints against Zeeshan, he added.
Zeeshan had also completed two online courses related to consent in that time, and now insisted on a chaperone being present whenever he performed any intimate examinations, his representative said. Testimony from other colleagues about him was also positive, the hearing report states.
The tribunal said it was ‘encouraged by this’ and accepted, in light of there being no evidence of further complaints against Zeeshan, that risk of repetition ‘may be very low’. However, it felt it could not ‘fully assess’ the risk of repetition as Zeeshan’s denial of the allegations meant he could not ‘demonstrate significant insight’ into his misconduct.
The report added: “Accordingly, the Tribunal considers that Dr Zeeshan poses a current and ongoing risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of the public.”
Ultimately, the tribunal ruled Zeeshan should be suspended from practicing for a period of 12 months to ‘allow him an opportunity to show that he had developed insight into the concerns identified, and that he had taken steps to remediate his misconduct’.
Zeeshan’s licence would be reviewed towards the end of that period, with the Dr required to demonstrate the steps he had taken towards this. If he does not, the reviewing tribunal would then be able to opt to erase him from the medical register.