A DOCTOR who telephoned and sent text messages to a woman patient in an effort to set her up with his friend appeared before a Medical Council fitness to practise inquiry yesterday facing a number of allegations of professional misconduct or poor professional performance.
The inquiry heard it was the second time Dr Eltayeb Elkhabir (40) has appeared before a fitness to practise committee. He was sanctioned in 2008 after an incident at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Dublin, when he told a patient with epilepsy it could be seen as “a sign of the devil in you” and that epilepsy could be caused by sexual activity.
He also gave that patient his mobile number and said she could call him if she wanted to know more about Islam.
He was ordered to do a course in ethics.
The latest fitness to practise inquiry, which opened yesterday, heard he was “overly friendly” and made Sinéad Doyle, Walkinstown, Dublin, feel uncomfortable when he admitted her to the Hermitage Medical Clinic on May 27th last year.
He told her his age, where he was from – he told her he was from Morocco but the inquiry heard he was actually a Sudanese national – and about his family. When he inquired about her job and she said she was a bank official, he asked if he might be able to get a loan.
After she said she was aged 33 he said it was a good age, as this was when Jesus had died. He also asked if she was single and if she was seeing anyone.
She had gone to the hospital that morning for a consultation and an MRI scan, after tests found her liver enzyme levels were raised.
She was later found to have gallstones and needed to have her gall bladder removed but she told the inquiry she was worried about the results of the scan, having still not received them, when Dr Elkhabir rang her on the evening of June 5th, a Saturday.
He said he was just checking up on her but by then he no longer worked at the Hermitage private hospital. He told her she should never drink alcohol again.
He telephoned again on June 10th and said she should stay off alcohol forever. He also said he had a friend whom he would like her to meet. “He was trying to sell me this marriage thing,” she said.
He explained it was difficult for Muslim men to meet Irish women as they did not go to pubs. He asked her if he could pass on her number to his friend.
Trying to put him off, she asked what would happen if she had a conviction, which she did not have. He replied that it was probably after having drink taken and he would forgive her, she said. She was at work and had to hang up. He called her again, later that evening, but she did not answer. He then texted her and she did not reply.
She got a further call from him on June 15th and she got a work colleague to answer. She was upset and complained to the Garda, the hospital and the Medical Council.
After she complained to the Medical Council and Dr Elkhabir was notified of the complaint, he texted her again, saying he was sorry if he inconvenienced her.
In his letter of explanation to the Medical Council, Dr Elkhabir wrote: “I’ve tried to help my friend and Ms Doyle to meet as a good couple, as I mentioned this is a very normal step for my religion and in my culture. I would be grateful to the people of Ireland and the West to adopt such a nice policy in life as my faith and doctrines support that. If it has not suited Ms Doyle, I am withdrawing this initiative and I’m sure it will be suitable to a lot of other people.”
JP McDowell, solicitor for the Medical Council, asked Ms Doyle if his cultural background could explain what happened. She said taking personal details such as her phone number from a medical file for personal gain was not right in any culture.
In evidence, Dr Elkhabir, a father of three who has been working in Ireland since 2001, said his conversation with Ms Doyle on May 27th – which was his last day in the Hermitage clinic after spending seven days there as a locum junior doctor – was just chit-chat to make her feel relaxed and the mention of the bank loan was a joke.
He said that at the end of their consultation, he felt he had clear permission to call her, something denied by Ms Doyle. His call to her when he mentioned his friend was not coming from him as her doctor but as her friend, he said. She was the only patient he met at the Hermitage whom he contacted afterwards. He agreed he had crossed the boundary of a doctor-patient relationship but said “that is something I can’t control”.
The fitness to practise committee reserved its judgment in the case.