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'Predatory' hospital doctor struck off after asking vulnerable QEQM patient if she wanted threesome

A "predatory" A&E doctor who asked a vulnerable patient if she wanted a threesome has been struck off the medical register.

Dr Nenad Dordevic propositioned the young woman at the QEQM in Margate when she visited the hospital alone late at night, after having self-harmed.

The tribunal said it believed Dr Dordevic "abused his position" to obtain and use both women's mobile numbers. Stock image
The tribunal said it believed Dr Dordevic "abused his position" to obtain and use both women's mobile numbers. Stock image

As he stitched up her arm, he asked her a series of "deplorable" and intrusive sexual questions, including: "Would you want to have a threesome with me?"

He then retrieved her mobile number from her medical records, and for several weeks harassed her with a series of "inappropriate" messages.

The experience left the woman so "terrified" that when an ambulance was sent to her flat after she self-harmed a couple of months later, she told paramedics she did not want to attend the hospital, for fear of seeing Dr Dordevic.

But when she was taken to the QEQM, the doctor approached her again in A&E.

A tribunal held by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service examined the doctor's interactions with two vulnerable young female patients.

The incident happened at the QEQM hospital in Margate. (50085290)
The incident happened at the QEQM hospital in Margate. (50085290)

The QEQM patient - named only as Patient B - had gone to A&E late at night in March 2018 with self-inflicted injuries.

Dr Dordevic carried out a consultation with her, and she said their interaction was initially "fairly light-hearted and fine".

But she was "taken by surprise" when he began asking her about the threesome and crude questions about oral sex.

He also said "my partner and I have had threesomes before, we are open to new experiences" and "you should try new things whilst you are young", or words to that effect.

Dr Dordevic said: "I am certain that I did not say any of the things I am alleged to have said. These are not things I would ever say to anyone."

Dr Nenad Dordevic worked at the QEQM hospital in Margate
Dr Nenad Dordevic worked at the QEQM hospital in Margate

But the tribunal ruled that he did.

After stitching up the woman's arm wounds, Dr Dordevic asked if she "wanted to go for a drink some time".

The patient recalled: "I just stared at the floor and didn’t answer him. He asked me several times."

While a nurse later dressed her wounds, Dr Dordevic popped his head around the door and mouthed to the patient: "I’ll text you."

As she had not given the doctor her number, she took this "as a kind of joke or his way of dealing with the fact that I hadn’t said yes when he had asked me to go for a drink".

"I just stared at the floor and didn’t answer him. He asked me several times..."

But Dr Dordevic retrieved the woman's mobile phone number from her medical records.

In the early hours of that day, he sent a WhatsApp message saying: "So…where were we…?"

Shortly after 7am he texted saying "morning again".

Over the next few weeks, he sent further messages saying "drink invitation still on so up to u", and "Guess no drinks then?"

At the tribunal, which was held last week, Chloe Fordham, counsel for the General Medical Council, blasted Dr Dordevic's actions as "predatory" and "inappropriate".

She said that after receiving his messages, Patient B grew concerned he could retrieve her address and "might just turn up at her house".

"The predatory behaviour has caused her to feel even more vulnerable than she already did," she said.

"How much more trust can be put in a doctor than when one as vulnerable as Patient B is holding out her arm, sitting in a hospital, whilst he stitches up her wounds?"

QEQM Hospital in Margate. Picture: Google Street View
QEQM Hospital in Margate. Picture: Google Street View

A couple of months after her initial hospital visit, the woman self-harmed again.

Her brother discovered her bleeding from cuts to her arm, and called 999.

Sian Sidders, a paramedic who had rushed to the scene, said in a statement that although the woman wanted treatment she was "anxious" about going to hospital again following her encounter with Dr Dordevic.

The young woman showed Ms Sidders a photograph of him on WhatsApp.

The woman requested to be seen by a female doctor at the QEQM.

But once at the hospital Dr Dordevic "walked in to the side room and tried to take over my care," the patient recalled in a witness statement.

"I just froze when Dr Dordevic came in. I can’t remember exactly what he said but I know he said hello..."

"I was laid down and I was really out of it," she said.

"I just froze when Dr Dordevic came in. I can’t remember exactly what he said but I know he said hello.

"He made a comment about whether I’d changed my hair.

"He then started taking my dressing off.

"I gave my brother a look and my brother mouthed to me ‘is that him?’. I just did a really small, discreet nod.

"His conduct has brought the profession into disrepute..."

"My brother stood up and said, ‘excuse me, she’s been asked to be seen by a female doctor’ and Dr Dordevic scurried out of the room."

These incidents came just a year after a similar episode, in which Dr Dordevic inappropriately messaged another vulnerable young patient.

On about March 26, 2017, a woman referred to as Patient A attended A&E at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, where Dr Dordevic was working as a locum registrar.

After treating her, Dr Dordevic suggested they should meet for a coffee so he could help her further with her Crohn's disease - a lifelong condition which causes inflammation of the digestive system.

The woman - who also had a history of depression, anxiety and self-harm - said she initially felt "quite happy that someone wanted to help", while Dr Dordevic said it was "only intended as a friendly and supportive gesture".

Dr Dordevic propositioned a vulnerable young patient at the QEQM hospital in Margate
Dr Dordevic propositioned a vulnerable young patient at the QEQM hospital in Margate

But he later found the woman's mobile phone number on her medical records and sent her a WhatsApp message, leading her to feel uncomfortable.

Summing up its findings, the tribunal said it believed Dr Dordevic "abused his position" to obtain and use both women's mobile numbers.

It found his actions towards Patient B were sexually motivated.

While Dr Dordevic has since attended courses in maintaining professional boundaries, the tribunal said it believes "sexual misconduct can be hard to remediate as it is behavioural".

Describing his behaviour as "wholly inappropriate", it concluded: "Dr Dordevic’s misconduct was serious and egregious and would clearly be considered as deplorable by members of the public and fellow practitioners alike.

"Sexual misconduct can be hard to remediate as it is behavioural..."

"His actions violated a fundamental rule governing the doctor-patient relationship - namely that patients should be able to trust doctors to act in their best interests, not to act inappropriately and certainly not with a sexual motivation.

"His conduct has brought the profession into disrepute.

"Public confidence in the profession would no doubt be seriously undermined were a finding of impairment not made on that basis."

The tribunal found Dr Dordevic's fitness to practise is impaired, by reason of misconduct.

On Friday, it determined he will be erased from the Medical Register.

It also imposed an immediate order of suspension to cover the 28-day appeal period.

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