A DOCTOR has been struck off after allegedly exposing himself to a female colleague and slapping her.  

Dr Bhikhubhai Patel has been erased from the medical register following a series of alleged incidents while he was living in Southend Hospital accommodation in Balmoral Road in 2020 and 2021.

At Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, it was ruled Dr Patel, who first qualified as a doctor in India in 1975 before moving the UK in 1977, left his bedroom door open whilst naked to expose himself to a female colleague in July 2020.

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The colleague reportedly requested he kept his door closed, which Dr Patel refused, the tribunal was told.

In a witness statement, the victim said: “I first saw Dr Patel in the beginning of July 2020 as I was going to one of the cupboards on my floor to get something.

“I noticed Dr Patel was laying down on his bed naked with his door open in the middle of the afternoon. This caused me great distress especially since I was the only female doctor on my floor and made me feel vulnerable.”

In oral evidence, the victim confirmed she did not see Dr Patel’s genitalia but did see his bare bottom.

Dr Patel denied the allegations, declaring in a statement: “I was never naked when my bedroom door was open, as I would always at least have a top and shorts on.

“I would point out that I lived in that accommodation for several months, and no-one else has ever suggested that there was any concern about seeing me naked.”

However, the tribunal ruled it the allegations had been proved, along with further allegations he had slapped the same colleague on her right cheek on March 24, 2021.

Acting on behalf of the General Medial Council, lawyer Emsley-Smith told the tribunal Dr Patel’s actions had made the victim feel so uncomfortable that “she changed her routines to avoid him and felt compelled to complain to others”

Ms Emsley-Smith claimed: “Dr Patel’s conduct, by repeatedly leaving the door open in shared accommodation when he was naked and ignoring repeated requests to stop, was deplorable, rude and entitled conduct and constitutes serious misconduct.”