Report my former GP

[viktoria]

More a WWYD.
This all happened 17 years ago.
When I was pregnant with my first child I went to my GP surgery. My GP was on maternity leave so I saw the other GP. He asked me all sort of questions about how the pregnancy was going and then asked me to stand and he touched my breast. His flat hand on my breast. I can't even remember if he grabbed it as such. It seemed really random so I said to him "can you stop that please. It makes me feel uncomfortable". He stopped and it wasn't mentioned again. At the time I thought it was odd but didn't really dwell on it. I thought maybe that is a standard check when you are pregnant.
With hindsight I definitely think that this was totally inappropriate. I was fine to stand up for myself in that situation, and don't feel traumatised or violated. I mainly just feel pissed off that he thought he could just touch me like that.
However, this GP most likely will have done this/similar things and possibly worse to other women or even girls. And that's what makes me think I really need to report this.
I moved before my son was born, so changed GPs.
He is still in the same surgery and now the most senior GP there
What would you do?
And how do you report a GP and what will happen then? Will I be believed?
Part of me thinks maybe I should just make an appointment with him and tell him not to dare do anything like that again - but then that just seems silly.
WWYD?
And also - I am correct that what he did was inappropriate, aren't I?

Jenny Wren I do not think asking the practise is the best way to proceed with it. I once had to make a serious complaint about a GP and did not know how to go about it (it was not a criminal matter). I rang the Practise Manager, who I fondly imagined was there to oversee how the practise worked properly, and would therefore be keen to put the matter right. She advised me to write to he doctor concerned, marking it Private and Confidential, which I did. Only later I realised the whole procedure was just to protect the doctor, and they could not have cared less about my problem with him. He phoned me one Sunday morning sounding very nervous, first saying the incident never happened, and eventually admitted it had and apologised verbally. I asked him for a written reply to my letter, but he refused. So the whole thing went nowhere. So OP, I hope you do take this up, but contacting the doctor's own surgery is not the way to go.

Nicenew, I'm sorry that this has brought this horrible memory back to you. I feel bad that this has made you feel tearful. But considering what happened to you, I'm not surprised. Sending you a big hug.
I think we are so often taught to be polite and effectively not to trust our instincts.

Tento, thank you for sharing this. I have to say the outcome that you described, is something I would be happy with.
I will definitely report what happened to me.

User147 I'm sorry your complaint didn't go anywhere. Thank you for your advice.
I will definitely report him to the GMC.

No haven’t reported and don’t intend tbh.
But still feel very violated about it and take it as a learning curve. Think twice before going to a male doctor.

Thered, what felt off to me was that once I said I felt uncomfortable about it, he immediately stopped. He never explained why he touched the breast, never suggested I should possibly see another (female) GP to follow up if I felt uncomfortable, nothing.
Just sat down and kept talking as if nothing had happened.

viktoria you mustn't feel at all bad. I saw the thread title and read it precisely because of what happened to me, my choice. I wouldn't say the incident has marred my life. It has made me wary of having a male doctor, and whenever I've felt the need I've requested a female one.

The GP in question is a pathetic little loser, just like the one you encountered. I know that I don't have to belittle another person to make myself feel better about my existence. They do, what a vile way to live.

I wish you luck.

This reminds me of thw doctor I had to see before my first job. He fondled me as if it were normal procedure, and I could not sau anything, as it was up to him to declare me fit to work. That's not even mentioning one of the questions is date of last period, so sexist.

I recently told DM about it and she didn't look surprised. She told me in her 20s a chest doctor asked her to go in fours... Years later ir became clear she wasn't the only one.

Tyrion I had a similar experience with a doctor who was to declare me fit for work. I was 22 and had never had a smear test before. He didn't wear gloves, and it was an incredibly long, uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. I came out of there in tears, without really knowing why. It was only when I had my next smear test that I realised how wrong that one had been.

These cases are not right. Doctors explain what they are about to do. And if he didn’t and you said stop you’re making me uncomfortable, he should have said sorry, I’m just performing a whatever examination on your breast, shall we arrange for a female doctor to do it instead?

This screams wrong. Had the OP frozen, like many of us do, wonder what would have happened next.

Dr (male) here. Wrong. Report.

Did a spell in 80's as GP. Young lady came in with pneumonia, I asked to listen to her chest, she took off her bra - because that is what Dr H had always made her do to to her chest????

But as house surgeon in '75 (first year after qualifying) I did examine all patients admitted and found breast cancer (in a GP) who came in for minor surgery on an ongoing chronic bowel problem (UC). Rectal cancer on a man admitted for hernia surgery. And Hodgkin's in a man admitted for an ingrowing toenail. None of them complained.

Over my career I never had any one ask why do you want to.... but if I had would firstly have given a full explanation, secondly asked if chaperone would help and finally if declined would arrange second opinion through appointment with another doctor.

to OP, and I still advise report.

as per the NICE guidelines an antenatal breast exam is "no longer recommended as of 2016"
so it is very possible it was still considered routine in 2000 and the dr. may have trained well before that and it was part of what he learned (although he should have stayed current and up to date).
www.nice.org.uk/donotdo/routine-breast-examination-during-antenatal-care-is-not-recommended-for-the-promotion-of-postnatal-breastfeeding-2

During my postnatal 6weekncheck my male GP insisted I had an internal examination in 1998. I was mortified but did. With dc2 6week postnatal check I didn’t have one and dr just pressed my lower abdomen. I’ve always wondered why the first time I had to have an internal but second time (different dr - female) I didn’t.

viktoria as well as the GMC, would you be up to talking to the sex crimes team at the police station local to the surgery? If they have had other complaints about the doctor, your report would add weight to any investigation or potential investigation, now or in the future, and support other victims who have or do report him.

Another Dr here (female). As you can imagine, I don't go round encouraging people to report doctors to the GMC. But this sounds wrong. Even if he was trained of the era of "antenatal exam includes breast exam" (and I recall several women who were diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy), then he would have been expected to explain. The manner in which he handled it sounds very very odd.

Unless it will traumatise you to do it, please report him.

Doctors abusing their patients are the utter scum of the universe. We are placed in a position of trust. Abusing that trust makes the offence so much worse than if it was by a random person. And can totally fuck over whether the victim feels able to properly access healthcare, for their rest of their life. Appalling.

Thanks to each one of you who took the time to read and comment.
You have given me confidence to speak up.
I have just submitted my complaint to the GMC.
I will be told within 2 weeks if they will investigate further.
Big thank you everybody - I will update

In 1987 (age 17) I was having unexplained headaches. I was asked by a male consultant to strip and lie on the examination bed. His hands went all over my body but he paid particular attention to my breasts. Whilst I was nervous and self-conscious, I didn’t really think much more about it.

Years passed and I sometimes thought about whether it had been right or not. It wasn’t until I got a really bad episode of anxiety and depression in 2010 that it took over my thoughts and I remember telling my GP all about it. She was very sympathetic but seemed to think that because it was more than twenty years ago, it might be too late to report it.

Earlier this year, I was in a supermarket car park and the radio news came on. There was a report of a woman having come forward with details of an abuse incident relating to a male in showbiz dating back to the mid-70s. I sat and thought again what had happened to me, then I Googled the GMC, phoned them and spoke to a very helpful young lady. She also said it was possible that too much time may have elapsed for the GMC to look into the matter at this stage, however she said I should be able to go to the police. I did that, and a few days later a female PC came out to see me.

She took all of the details, asked me to sign various consent forms relating to access to records and she is currently awaiting responses from my GP surgery, former employer and private health hospital to come back to her (the latter two because I was referred under my employer’s private health scheme).

OP, just letting you know this because it could be an alternative (or additional) route for you to take.

Tashface, sorry this happened to you and well done for going to the police. Thanks for you advice. I will see what happens with the GMC and might well go to the police if the GMC proves to be a dead end. Thank you!

OP - there's nothing wrong with you doing both (police & GMC). The GMC might ask if you've formally reported it.

Viktoria, I’m very happy to help. Even if my own complaint comes to nothing, the fact that I have finally offloaded it has had a really positive effect on my mental health. Wishing you all the very best.