Winchester doctor suspended for sterilising woman without consent

Dr Olusegun Lawrence Olujide performed the sterilisation while the patient was undergoing a c-section at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital on August 6, 2020, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing heard.

The tribunal, which met several times from February 6 last year to Thursday May 2 heard that Dr Olujide had not received either written or oral permission for the patient to carry out the procedure and that there was no clinical justification for doing it without consent.

The operation took place at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in 2020 (Image: Condtributed)

He had also failed to properly communicate to colleagues that he intended to carry out the sterilisation, and had not informed the patient the procedure had been carried out, failing to give her and her partner advice.

Dr Olujide admitted all the allegations.

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At the hearing, Katie Nowell, counsel for the General Medical Council, said that the method that Dr Olujide used to sterilise the patient, the application of diathermy to the fallopian tubes, is an outdated method.

She also said that he had shown “limited reflection” following the incident, and that he had failed to identify where exactly he had gone wrong – although she did say he had reached out and apologised to the patient.

The tribunal decided that Dr Olujide’s fitness to practice has been impaired, with the tribunal deciding to suspend him from practicing for 12 months.

Dr Olujide asked for the suspension period to begin in 28 days time, allowing patients under his care to be transferred to a different doctor in a timely and responsive manner.

Ms Nowell added that the GMC was not calling for Dr Olujide to be suspended immediately, saying that it had not received any complaints about his conduct since the incident in August 2020.

The chair of the tribunal, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, said: “Having considered all submissions in this case, we have determined that a 12-month suspension is in order.”

Dr Olujide is no longer working at the RHCH but the tribunal did not say where he is currently working.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told the Chronicle: “We would like to express our deepest regret to the patient affected by the actions of Dr Olujide.”

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“Obtaining patient consent is fundamental to ethical practice, as is made clear by the General Medical 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.

“We respect the decision made by the General Medical Council and the further scrutiny provided through their tribunal, and we can confirm that Dr Olujide will not be reinstated by Hampshire Hospitals.

“If any patients of Dr Olujide are concerned we would invite them to make contact through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service by emailing PALSandcomplaints@hhft.nhs.uk or on 01256 486766.”