Freedom of Information Request: Our Reference CTHB_261_14

You asked:

Q. How many doctors working within your Health Board have been suspended or struck off following a conviction for a sexual offence

with a patient under the age of 18

None

Q. How many doctors working within your Health Board have been suspended or struck off following a conviction for a sexual offence

with a patient over the age of 18?

None

Q. How many doctors working within your Health Board have been

suspended or struck off following allegations of a sexual offence with a patient under the age of 18

None

Q. How many incidents of an alleged child sexual offence have been

reported by CEOP or the NCA to the NHS or Police involving doctors working within your Health Board?

None

Q. What are the guidelines for doctors working within your Health

Board for examining patients under the age of 18?

The Health Board’s doctors work to the following GMC guidelines:

0-18 years guidance for all Doctors

Good medical practice Protecting children and young people; the responsibilities of all doctors:

GMC Guideline Maintaining Professional Boundaries

Protecting both the patient and the practitioner in such situations is part of the culture which we seek to instil into our juniors in their apprenticeship

training model, i.e. they will see examples of this, on a regularly recurring basis, in the practice of their seniors on ward rounds, in clinics, etc. The

default they are taught is that all examinations of children should take place in the presence of a parent, until a child is old enough for the

presence of their parent to become a potential issue of privacy/dignity.

There is no fixed age for this as it is dependent on the developmental stage

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of the child, both physically and mentally. However, once a point is

reached where a child would prefer their parent to be outside the room/curtain when they are physically examined by a doctor, the doctor

must ensure that another member of staff is present to witness the examination.

Further information in relation to this guidance can be found via the

following site: http://www.gmcuk.org/publications/standards_guidance_for_doctors.asp.