UK medical authorities have suspended a Nigerian doctor, Ewere Onyekpe, for engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient.
The incidents, which included a sexual encounter in a hospital toilet, took place on the night of 10 June and the following morning at the patient’s home.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal of the General Medical Council initially imposed a six-month sanction on Mr Onyekpe’s practising licence in January, after an investigative tribunal found him guilty.
However, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, an independent body focusing on ethics and standards, appealed against the MPT’s decision, arguing that the punishment was too lenient.
The court agreed with the PSA’s argument and ordered a retrial of the case. The sexual relationship between Mr Onyekpe and the unnamed female patient began after he treated her at the Whittington Hospital in London.
The relationship continued until 24 July 2020, when the patient reported to the police that she had been raped by Mr Onyekpe.
In a statement, Mr Onyekpe admitted to his misconduct, saying, “I appreciate that what I did was awful and that I let down myself and my family and my colleagues. I also accept this because the power imbalance between me as a doctor and that 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 PSA has called for a review of the case, arguing that the charges against Mr Onyekpe did not adequately reflect the seriousness of his misconduct.
The court has since quashed the tribunal’s decision and ordered a new medical tribunal to investigate the matter.
The judge cited deficiencies in the decision-making process and a failure to consider the evidence adequately.
Mr Onyekpe, who was born in Nigeria and received his medical qualification from Kharkiv State Medical University in Ukraine, began his medical practice in Nigeria, primarily within the Nigerian Army.
