A Brighton doctor has been struck off for subjecting female patients to unnecessary intimate examinations over an 18-year period.
Dr Rodney Tate, who worked at the Old Steine Surgery for 36 years, volunteered to have his name removed from the medical register.
But the General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise Panel found that to maintain confidence in the medical profession, his name must be erased completely. They had heard that when women complained, Dr Tate had told colleagues they were “all mad”.
They included one who was told to take off her top and bra after complaining of a sore throat. Dr Tate touched her breasts while he checked glands under her armpits. In another similar case, the patient had complained of shortness of breath.
The panel found: “In all the circumstances, the panel has determined that the sanction of erasure is proportionate and it is in the public interest to direct that your name be erased from the medical register.”
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