'Creepy' doctor struck off for 'serious' misconduct

A “creepy” doctor who performed an “inappropriate” rectal examination on a vulnerable teenager and “sexually harassed” colleagues has been struck off.

Dr Hosam Halim is no longer permitted to practise medicine after a tribunal service hearing proved allegations of serious misconduct.

He was also found to have given an “excessive” dose of a mental health drug to a patient and acted in a discriminatory way towards a Muslim colleague.

The long-serving health professional, who qualified in 2000, worked at Ipswich Hospital, the Royal Free London Hospital and Barnet Hospital at the time of the incidents.

The first incidents of misconduct took place from April 2021 until April 2022 when Dr Halim acted inappropriately and repeatedly pestered a junior colleague.

He repeatedly ask her out for drinks and on dates, told her how pretty she was, grabbed her hair plaits, and told her he was looking for another wife.

Dr Halim also told her that as a woman she shouldn’t work and would go up behind her and whisper in her ear.

The woman, known as Dr E, said: “It is a relief to me to know I won’t have to go into work and see him.

“I used to worry he would be on-call at the same time as one of my shifts, but I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

“I did recently see Dr Halim, although this was from afar and I did not speak to him. I felt stressed after seeing him, so I think it must have had some kind of impact on me.”

During the same period, in July 2021, he prescribed a 5mg dose of haloperidol to a patient, despite the recommended dose being ten times less at 0.5mg.

Then, in September 2021, he told an employee that “as a Muslim it’s wrong to wear a lanyard that supports” Pride and the LGBTQ+ community.

He asked her if she was gay, told her it was “a sin” to wear such a lanyard and she should immediately remove it, and said what the Pride flag represents is “wrong”.

In October 2021, Dr Halim performed an intimate rectal examination on a 17-year-old when her mental state meant she did not have capacity to consent and it was "unsafe".

The examination, which was “not clinically needed”, followed no assessment of her vulnerability and no consideration for if there was a less intrusive alternative.

In August 2022, he sexually harassed another female colleague, asking her if she had a boyfriend, if she lived alone, and if she would marry him.

After she told him she would report him for sexual harassment, he laughed at her and said, “Do you think I will stop?”.

Dr Halim would also follow her when she was on the phone, put his ear close to her head to listen to her conversations, and quizzed her on who she was talking to.

Over the course of the hearing, Dr Halim expressed regret and apologised for his “inappropriate” misconduct but said he is “not a significant risk to patients”.

But tribunal chair, Mrs Catherine Moxon, ruled that removing him from the medical register was “necessary to protect members of the public and the profession”.

The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Ipswich Hospital declined to comment.

A spokesperson fromThe Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Free London Hospital and Barnet Hospital, said: “We would like to apologise to patients and staff at the Royal Free London who were affected by Hosam Halim’s inappropriate behaviour.

“The trust cooperated fully with the General Medical Council’s investigation and can confirm that Hosam Halim has not worked for the Royal Free London since 2022.”

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