‘Little benefit’ from putting conditions on GP who failed to respond to patient’s possible sexual assault
Although the crying patient was unsure if she'd had intercourse, her presentation should have raised suspicion of sexual assault, according to a tribunal.
A tribunal has removed registration conditions on a GP who failed to recognise that a patient may have been sexually assaulted after she disclosed waking up in a strange bed with no underwear and foggy memories.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that, while the GP’s conduct was unsatisfactory, the mentoring conditions were unnecessary given the time that had elapsed and the GP’s self-directed education on the topic.
It said the patient had presented to the GP in 2019, two days after the potential sexual assault.
She had disclosed having a few drinks at a party and waking up the next morning in someone else’s bed without her underwear or bra, the GP’s notes said.
