A doctor who was freed from jail after being acquitted of sexually assaulting two women patients last night paid tribute to the Irish justice system. "I am quite happy about the judicial system in Ireland. I am quite happy. I thank you all," he said.
A jury of seven men and five women took two hours to reach a unanimous verdict of not guilty yesterday in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The case was retried after a previous trial in which the jury disagreed on a verdict. The doctor, who comes from Pakistan, had been just three months in Ireland when he was jailed, and spent 18 months on remand in prison.
The women patients had complained of improper vaginal examinations and said he had fondled their breasts before tonsillitis operations. One of the women was in tears after the verdict.
The doctor said he did not get support from medical people. Foreign doctors in Ireland "were annoyed I had brought a bad name to them".
He criticised the Mater Hospital, Dublin, where he was working at the time of the alleged offences. "I must say that the medical system here is not a good one, especially people at the Mater Hospital," he said. "I am not happy with them because I was their responsibility and they didn't help me . . . In Pakistan a teacher helps his students."
The director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Olive Braiden, also criticised the Mater Hospital last night. "The hospital was certainly at fault for allowing someone with such a lack of experience and an apparent difference of medical training, to carry out a pre-operative procedure."
Ms Braiden said the Rape Crisis Centre received a lot of complaints from women who were upset after what they felt were unnecessary internal examinations by doctors. "They don't know if what was done was wrong. They feel they should have questioned it and objected, but obviously felt in a very vulnerable position at the time."
She said it was important that patients be aware of their rights and of the existence of the patients' charter. "Anyone going into hospital should be aware of their rights to have someone present during an examination. This protects both patient and doctor."
A spokesman for the hospital said that it had no comment. A civil action against the hospital is being brought by the two women involved. The Irish Medical Organisation also said it had no comment to make on the case. But Dr Hugh Bredin, IMO former president, said that chaperoning - the practice of a doctor being accompanied by another medical professional while conducting an examination - was advisable in most circumstances where an intimate examination was being carried out on a patient by a doctor of the opposite sex.
"I wouldn't like it to be a rigid rule. There could be emergency circumstances - a GP working in the country - and it would be terrible if a vital intimate examination was omitted."
Mr Bredin said supervision of junior doctors in hospitals was necessary, particularly at the beginning of training. He explained that a number of foreign doctors get posts in hospitals as supernumeraries, working for no payment. He said that often once they had "established their reputation" they would be offered a paying position. It was important, especially for foreign doctors, that they receive proper supervision.