Belconnen doctor's registration cancelled after he behaved inappropriately to patients

A doctor who was found to have acted inappropriately to two female patients, including remarking, “Your boyfriend is very lucky” when conducting a breast exam, has been told he cannot practice for two years.

Dr Nathem Al-Naser was reprimanded, had his registration cancelled and was disqualified from reapplying for two years by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) on Monday (29 January).

The Medical Board of Australia had taken him to ACAT over the allegations. Four complaints were ultimately found to be proved and the tribunal said he “behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct”.

Dr Al-Naser denied any wrongdoing when the first patient complained in 2019. He again denied wrongdoing when the second patient made her complaint in 2020.

However, the tribunal found his clinical performance during a breast examination for the first patient was inappropriate as he did not offer her a chaperone and pressed his leg against her side while conducting the examination.

It also found he kissed this patient at the end of a consultation, massaged her, and told her about his personal and sexual life. He had also made other inappropriate comments, such as about her physical appearance.

The tribunal commented on his medical treatment of her.

“We find [Dr Al-Naser’s] management of [the patient’s] symptoms through the prescription of various medications was haphazard and did not reflect an evidence-based approach,” it said.

It added there was a lack of information to provide clinical justification for the medications that were prescribed.

The doctor claimed that he “became overly familiar over the years he treated her” but denied he behaved “in any sort of sexually motivated way”.

When it came to the second patient, the tribunal found that during a breast exam, Dr Al-Naser told the woman, “Your boyfriend is very lucky”.

Dr Al-Naser conceded he had possibly made the alleged remark but claimed he wouldn’t have made it while conducting an examination and said it would have been “a poorly judged attempt at being light-hearted”.

When determining how to sanction Dr Al-Naser, ACAT’s Senior Members Professor Tony Foley and Dr Robyn Davies said his disciplinary history was relevant.

He had “a lengthy and unenviable disciplinary history with sanctions or restrictions” imposed by the Medical Board, while he has also “been severely constrained in the scope of his practice by restrictions previously imposed on his registration”.

For instance, a restriction that he not have contact with female patients was imposed in May 2019 and is still in place.

“In totality, these are substantial restrictions which have meant personal and financial imposts on the respondent,” the senior members said.

“Nonetheless, we accept they were essential for the protection of the public and the maintenance of public confidence in the profession.”

Before the sanction hearing, Dr Al-Naser reflected on the complaints.

“The mistakes I have made in the past cannot be undone, but I am determined to, and the way I conduct myself now is very different to the way I acted before I had time to reflect on the effects of my behaviour towards certain patients,” he said.

Dr Al-Naser moved to Australia in 1994, obtained registration as a medical practitioner in 1995 and became the director at the Conder and Belconnen Medical Centres.

ACAT has ordered that Dr Al-Naser cannot provide any health service for two years, but this does not extend to his managerial duties in his practice.

He must also pay the Medical Board’s costs of the proceedings as agreed or assessed by the tribunal.