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Uzodike’s counsel asked for a sanction of suspension, while the GMC asked for erasure
An accident and emergency doctor who used hospital records to look up the phone numbers of two patients, and had sexual relations with them, has been struck off the UK medical register.
It was reported that Christopher Uzodike, who worked at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, as at the time contacted the two female patients after they visited the emergency department in 2016.
With her, known as Patient A, the married doctor had an emotional and sexual relationship that lasted for nearly two years, ending in April 2018. He knew she had just come out of an abusive relationship, patient A did not know he was married.
Patient A left “bitter” messages with the doctor’s wife after learning that he was married, the medical practitioners’ Uzodike admitted sending “inappropriate” text messages to Patient A but denied having obtained the women’s numbers from hospital records, claiming to have run into them at nightclubs.
That after drink, he had a one night stand with the other, referred to as Patient B. He sent her an sms soon after her hospital visit, telling her he could not let her “curves walk past.”
Both patients attended the tribunal hearing.
“There had clearly been some contact” between the two women, said Sean Ell, chairing the tribunal, but this “did not affect their credibility” and the tribunal did not believe “that they had collaborated to create a false account against the doctor.”
The tribunal also accepted, said Ell, that Patient A might have been motivated to report Dr. Uzodike to the GMC in response to the breakdown of the relationship and the court proceedings he began against her. But this did not affect the overall truth and consistency of her account, said Ell. The tribunal found both patients to be truthful and credible witnesses, he added.
The same was not true of Uzodike, said Ell. He brought a friend to testify that Uzodike had met Patient A at a nightclub but the tribunal judged the friend’s testimony to be false and dishonest. Ell noted several other factual inconsistencies in Uzodike’s evidence which, he said, led the tribunal to conclude that he was neither a reliable nor a credible witness.
tribunal found Dr Uzodike guilty on the factual allegations, the doctor made a reflective statement expressing remorse.
“Life is all about choices and regrettably, these were the bad choices that I made. I feel ashamed of my behavior and how I let this happen,” he said.
“I have let so many people down, I let the patients down, I lost the confidence of the public in the profession, I let my hardworking colleagues down. I deeply regret what I did, and I am extremely remorseful. I cannot turn the hand of time, but I have taken steps and will continue to do so to make sure that the risk of a future occurrence is eliminated.”
Ell said,
“The tribunal took the view that the reflective statement was more a continuation of Dr Uzodike’s desire to get himself out of the situation he finds himself in than a demonstration of any genuine remorse for his behaviour.”
Uzodike’s counsel asked for a sanction of suspension, while the GMC asked for erasure
“A lesser sanction than erasure,” said Ell, “would not sufficiently protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and uphold proper professional standards for members of the profession.”
