A doctor received a formal warning to offer patients a chaperone before examining their intimate areas after he was cleared of groping a woman’s breast during an appointment. Dr Joel Danjuma, 69, was accused of conducting an “inappropriate” and “sexually motivated” examination on a female patient, while he was a locum in the A&E of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in October 2022.
It was alleged he touched one of her breasts and failed to offer a chaperone or use recognised techniques. A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel heard her complaint was investigated by Thames Valley Police as a sexual assault but no further action was taken due to “insufficient evidence” and the matter was referred to the General Medical Council (GMC).
Dr Danjuma admitted failing to offer a chaperone but denied all other allegations. The woman, referred to as Patient A, began her evidence on day one of the recent hearing but became “distressed” during cross-examination and said she would no longer continue.
The GMC offered no further evidence with all other counts not proven. The panel concluded failing to offer a chaperone fell below standards but was not serious misconduct and his fitness to practice was not impaired. During GMC submissions it heard Dr Danjuma was advised to offer female patients chaperones during examinations of intimate body parts in 2015.
As a result, the panel determined an official warning should be put on his record for two years. Kevin McCartney, representing Dr Danjuma, argued issuing a warning would cause reputational harm and that it was unlikely he would ever return to work.
But panel chair Nessa Sharkett said: “While (not working) may be Dr Danjuma’s intention at this time, a warning would not restrict his right to practise, and he would be free to return at any time. The tribunal found that given the nature and significance of the breach, the public interest outweighs the reputational concerns.”
The panel was not told about three previous investigations into similar allegations from a total of seven other female patients faced by Dr Danjuma over 33 years. He qualified as a doctor in 1984 in Bulgaria, worked in Nigeria, and came to the UK in 1991.
In October 1992 he went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court after being charged with five counts of indecently assaulting four female patients at Wigan Infirmary. Dr Danjuma denied all allegations, saying his examinations were entirely professional, and he was cleared.
He relocated to Macclesfield Hospital and in July 2002 a GMC fitness to practise hearing heard claims that in May 1999 he sexually assaulted two vulnerable women patients. He denied the allegations and was found not to be impaired.
Dr Danjuma moved to Milton Keynes and was suspended by the town’s hospital after a complaint from a 65-year-old woman that he sexually assaulted her in June 2012. An interim MPTS hearing in November 2016 heard he applied for a judicial review to prevent the GMC investigation. He lost that civil action.
The MPTS hearing, in February 2017, heard allegations Dr Danjuma spent several minutes fondling the woman’s breasts after she came into A&E. The woman’s claims had been investigated by police, who took no further action, but referred the case to the GMC. Dr Danjuma denied any misconduct and the panel found his fitness to practice not impaired.
Erin McIver, a solicitor for Weightmans LLP, said: “Dr Danjuma does not wish to provide any comments regarding the outcome of this case or the previous allegations.”
