Grafton doctor broke boundaries in patient relationship

Allegations against a general practitioner who worked at Grafton included inappropriate personal contact with a patient - including 50 phone calls or texts in a single day.

The Grafton GP Super Clinic opened in 2011.

A man who worked as a doctor at the Grafton GP Super Clinic has been found guilty of professional misconduct after a string of disturbing allegations made by a patient suffering schizophrenia.

It was alleged that between February 9, 2017, and June 7, 2019, while working at the Grafton clinic, Dheyaa Kadhim Jouda, now aged 49, breached professional boundaries with ‘Patient A’.

The allegations included that the general practitioner exchanged phone calls and text messages with the patient, invited the patient to his home for dinner, drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with the patient at the patient’s home and loaned the patient money.

The case was brought by the Health Care Complaints Commission and heard by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the complaint proven and that Dr Jouda was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.

It was further claimed that Dr Jouda - educated at the University of Baghdad, Iraq - engaged in improper or unethical conduct by:

* asking the patient if he could use his name to complete a prescription not meant for him;

* falsely documenting a prescription;

* falsely documenting a medical consultation with the patient; and,

* making a false representation to the commission during the investigation of the matter.

Dr Jouda was first registered as a medical practitioner in NSW in 2013, and it was alleged that he failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries - calling or texting Patient A (now aged 27) on numerous occasions, including 50 times in one single day for purposes that were not clinically warranted.

It was alleged Dr Jouda cooked dinner for Patient A in his home, and that they drank alcohol together, smoked marijuana and discussed sexuality.

In his reply to the matter, Dr Jouda did not concede the claim that he “smoked marijuana with Patient A at his home”. This was the sole disputed issue of fact in the proceedings.

Stemming from a complaint by Patient A, Dr Jouda’s registration was suspended by the Medical Council of NSW in August, 2019.

Dr Jouda did not appeal the suspension, and his registration formally expired in October that year and has not been renewed.

In its decision of May 31, the Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the complaint proven and that Dr Jouda was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.

The tribunal will determine protective orders following a further hearing.

Backed by $5 million in Commonwealth funding, the Grafton GP Super Clinic opened in 2011.