A doctor phoned a senior colleague in the Mater Hospital late at night and told him that he had carried out a vaginal examination of a patient due to have her tonsils removed, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.
It was the fifth day of the trial of the 35-year-old doctor, who denies sexually assaulting two patients at the hospital on July 28th, 1997. Both patients allege they were sexually molested during routine examinations to assess if they were suitable for surgery to have their tonsils removed.
Dr Darragh Breslin, an anaesthetist at the Mater, said he was contacted by the accused after one of the women made a complaint. The accused was very upset and it was difficult to make out what he was saying.
"Part of the problem was that I was shocked by the nature of the conversation," Dr Breslin added.
The accused handed over the phone to the night superintendent, Nurse Caitriona Hayden, who explained that a woman had alleged that the accused had carried out vaginal examinations on her, had made "inappropriate" comments, and had tried to kiss her.
Dr Breslin then asked to talk to the accused. He asked him if he had carried out a vaginal examination without wearing surgical gloves. He replied that he had. Dr Breslin then explained that the allegation was very serious.
Cross-examined by Mr Martin Giblin SC (with Mr Cormac Quinn), Dr Breslin denied that at 6 p.m. that day the accused had requested to join him on his daily examinations of patients. "I didn't even recognise him when he phoned me," he told the court, and added: "If he wanted supervision, he certainly never contacted me."
Dr Breslin agreed that a medical book used by the accused in Pakistan and in his studies in Ireland was considered to be an acceptable text.
Asked if he agreed with advice in the book that all systems in the body, including the genital and urinary system, should be checked in a pre-operation examination, witness said the text was only a guide and not a "gold-standard."
Textbooks tended to cover every situation possible, but often this was not necessary in practical situations. "It would have been explained to us in training what was a relevant and non-relevant examination," he added.
Asked by the prosecution if the removal of the tonsils was considered a routine operation, he replied that it was, particularly with younger patients.
As an anaesthetist continued in his studies, the relevance of vaginal examinations in operation checks become less and less important, he added.
The trial continues before Judge Kieran O'Connor and a jury.