A senior doctor told a jury in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday he did not think there could be any justification for conducting a vaginal examination on a patient being assessed for an operation to remove her tonsils.
Consultant anaesthetist Dr Dermot Phelan said he had taken up employment in the Mater Hospital in the 1980s and had never performed such an examination. He was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of a 35year-old doctor from Pakistan who has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting two women, aged 23 and 19, during pre-operative assessments in the Mater Hospital on July 28th, 1997.
The younger woman told the court the accused had conducted two internal examinations on her and touched her breasts. He did not examine her throat or glands.
Dr Phelan agreed with Mr Tom O'Connell BL, prosecuting, that the accused's notes of the assessments did not make any mention of carrying out vaginal examinations on the women.
Defence counsel Mr Cormac Quinn BL, said his client would claim he was never shown how to carry out pre-operative assessments and he was only on his second one when complaints arose.
He suggested that, as a young doctor, the accused would have tried to impress senior staff with the thoroughness of his assessment. The accused would also say he was told to look at a textbook when he asked how to carry out an assessment.
Mr Quinn produced a textbook on pre-operative procedures in which there was a reference to "full physical examination". He said the accused would say he understood this to include an internal examination.
The accused also asked the women about their menstrual cycles as the book stated it was important to verify the patient was not pregnant. He asked about the contraceptive pill as the book said the use of the pill should be discontinued six weeks before an operation. Dr Phelan conceded questions on these matters could be relevant.
Earlier, Dr Phelan told the court he received a phone call at 11 p.m. on July 28th, 1997, to say a complaint had been made about the accused. He spoke to the accused by phone and the accused agreed he had carried out a vaginal examination on both women. However, he claimed he did this only once on each patient and not four and two times as they alleged.
The accused said he thought it entirely appropriate behaviour and he denied kissing one of the women or touching their breasts or nipples, the witness said.
Dr Phelan said the accused claimed he conducted an internal examination on the first woman because she complained of a bowel condition. When asked if he had used gloves and washed his hands before and afterwards, the accused said he had not.
Dr Phelan went to the hospital and was present when a garda told the accused a file would probably be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The accused was asked to attend at a Garda station on the following Wednesday.
Dr Phelan said he told the accused to cease work immediately and not to see any more patients. The second woman was mentioned and the accused said he had conducted an internal examination on her because she complained of excessive menstrual bleeding.
Mr O'Connell put it to Dr Phelan that the job of an anaesthetist was simply to "knock a person out" and he asked if it was normal for an anaesthetist to carry out internal examinations. Dr Phelan said if there was a problem with a patient, it would normally be referred to a doctor with a speciality in the area.
Under cross-examination from Mr Quinn, Dr Phelan said the CV of the accused stated he had six months' experience in anaesthetics in Pakistan and while it was no reflection on the accused, Irish hospitals had a policy of treating such people as "beginners".
Mr Quinn said his client would say he had great difficulty in speaking and understanding English. He did not fully understand what he had to do in a preoperative assessment and was not shown how to do it. Counsel also said his client would say gloves were often not used in Pakistani hospitals.
Landlord Mr Patrick Ormsby said the accused had been a tenant of one of his flats on the North Circular Road. He contacted gardai after he saw the accused pack his bags and hail a taxi.
The case continues.