Gynaecologist sterilised patient without her consent

A CONSULTANT gynaecologist has been suspended for a year after he sterilised a female patient without consent.

Dr Olusegun Lawrence Olujide performed the operation while the patient was undergoing a caesarean section, a disciplinary hearing was told. He had not received permission from her to carry out the procedure and there was no clinical justification for doing it without consent, the panel heard.

He also failed to tell colleagues that he intended to carry out the sterilisation and did not inform the woman afterwards that he had done so.

After being reported by colleagues, Dr Olujide admitted misconduct following the incident at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester on August 6 2020.

Katie Nowell, counsel for the General Medical Council, said that the method Dr Olujide used to sterilise the patient, the application of diathermy to the fallopian tubes, is outdated. She also said that he had shown “limited reflection” following the incident and had failed to identify where exactly he had gone wrong although he had now apologised to the patient. The tribunal decided that Dr Olujide’s fitness to practise had been impaired and suspended him for 12 months. He asked for the suspension period to begin in 28 days’ time, allowing patients under his care to be transferred to another practitioner in a timely and responsive manner. He is no longer working at the RHCH.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would like to express our deepest regret to the patient affected by the actions of Dr Olujide. Obtaining patient consent is fundamental to ethical practice, as is made clear by the council, and the provision of good care; there is simply no excuse for what took place.

“We are very grateful to those colleagues who recognised that Dr Olujide had carried out the procedure without consent and raised the alarm. Through them, we were able to take immediate action to ensure other patients were not put at risk and we could give our sincerest apologies to the patient and explain what had happened.

“If any patients of Dr Olujide are concerned we would invite them to make contact through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service.”