More allegations of doctor breaching conditions

Dr Vijay Harypursat

Two more patients of a Whangarei medical clinic were allegedly seen by a doctor in breach of his practising conditions.

The female patients yesterday told the Northern Advocate Dr Vijay Harypursat allegedly treated them at White Cross recently without the presence of a chaperone as directed by the New Zealand Medical Council.

Both came forward after the Advocate ran a story yesterday about Dr Harypursat breaching his practising conditions by seeing a female patient without supervision four weeks after admitting a charge of professional misconduct.

The three female patients he allegedly saw without a chaperone were on separate days in August. One lodged a written complaint to the White Cross but the clinic refused to comment on whether it was passed on to the council.

Another patient yesterday said she did not report the matter to anybody but was critical of White Cross for its failure to ensure a chaperone was available for Dr Harypursat. She saw the doctor on August 28.

"My impression was it's not him but the management at White Cross who should have provided a chaperone. Also, not all cubicles had signs to say a chaperone had to be present," she said.

Dr Harypursat, she said, was an excellent doctor and that his misconduct was something that happened outside the clinic.

The Council is refusing to comment on whether it has received any complaints against him after his July plea to a charge of professional misconduct. The Health and Disability Commission is treating questions sent by the Northern Advocate as a request under the Official Information Act and said it would reply within 20 working days.

White Cross chief executive Dr Alistair Sullivan has urged unhappy patients to contact the clinic: "We are not prepared to conduct information given by patients through the media. You've identified a few more people and we'd urge them to come to the clinic and we'd be happy to talk to them and deal with the issue."

Complaints against doctors or any medical practitioners can be made either to the council or the commission. The council forwards complaints to the commission, which is responsible for laying charges before they are filed with the Health Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal hears the charges and imposes penalties.

Dr Harypursat earlier declined to comment on any issues surrounding his case.