NHS doctor forced teenage girl to eat flatbread, court hears

An NHS doctor made a teenage girl on a work placement ‘uncomfortable’ by feeding her flatbread, a court heard.

Dr Abdullatif Abdulhadi tore the flatbread into strips, dipped them in oil and spices and fed the girl by hand at an NHS hospital.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard the lead registrar also sexually harassed the teenager, leading to her giving up her work experience early.

The court struck Mr Abdulhadi off the doctors’ register after it emerged he had also sexually harassed two female doctors at another NHS hospital.

Mr Abdulhadi, who qualified as a medical doctor from the University of the Punjab in Pakistan in 1977, was working as a locum surgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford when he sexually harassed a trainee between July and August 2019.

During a lunch break, he gave her flatbread with baptismal oil, herbs, halloumi and a spice mix called za’atar.

The girl told the court: “I felt uncomfortable, especially during lunch breaks, because of his persistent attempts to hand-feed me.”

She remembered “the feeling of his fingers touching my mouth” and said he tried to put food in her mouth, “this was the part that abruptly escalated to (me) feeling unsafe.”

“I tried to say no in different ways, but he kept insisting,” she added.

‘Dr. Abdulhadi’s actions amounted to serious misconduct’

Mr Abdulhadi also suggested visiting a “beautiful coastal town”, gave her long hugs and kisses on her neck, called her and sent her emails.

The court heard that Mr Abdulhadi later became a acting registrar at Kettering General Hospital, where he sexually harassed two female doctors between December 2021 and January 2022.

He made inappropriate comments to them and sent inappropriate WhatsApp messages, it was heard.

Mr Abdulhadi told one she had “brains and beauty” and asked if he could “treat her to lunch at a Turkish restaurant”, and gave the other doctor a card that said “to someone special, with love”.

Mr Abdulhadi told the court he was “regretful”, adding: “When I think about it, the process is still very painful, but it has made me think again about how carefully I choose the sentences I use with colleagues. I always remain professional in my work.”

Linda Lee, chair of the court, said the only appropriate sanction was to strike him off the medical register.

“The court has determined that Dr. Abdulhadi’s actions are considered deplorable by fellow physicians and amount to serious misconduct in themselves, and that his misconduct, when taken as a whole, is particularly serious.”

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