Shaun Segal: Rose Bay Medical Practice doctor appeals suspension
A doctor has launched an appeal after being suspended for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a woman he was treating. It is alleged the pair had sex within various rooms at an eastern suburbs clinic and that the doctor even switched off CCTV so he could sneak her inside the building.
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A Sydney doctor has launched an appeal after he was suspended by the state’s medical watchdog for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient at a clinic in the city’s eastern suburbs.
Dr Shaun Segal was handed the order by the Medical Council of NSW over alleged misconduct towards a female patient he was treating at the Rose Bay Medical Practice from October 2016 to April last year.
The patient, who filed the complaint to the Healthcare Complaints Commission in May, alleged she and Dr Segal engaged in “sexual encounters” within rooms at the medical practice as well as each other’s homes.
The investigation heard that on one alleged incident, Dr Segal brought the patient into the clinic through a back door before turning off CCTV cameras and engaging in oral sex with the woman.
The complaint also alleged Dr Segal and the patient had sex within rooms at the facility – where she was bulk-billed for the sessions – and that Dr Segal allegedly displayed “predatory and grooming behaviour” towards her.
Dr Segal denied he had a sexual relationship with the woman and has launched an appeal against the suspension to NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
The 46-year-old, who works at several other clinics across Sydney including the Australian Skin Cancer Clinic in Edgecliff and the Railway Street Medical Centre in Baulkham Hills, said his working records showed he could not have had sex with the patient on certain dates outlined in the complaint, and that security cameras at the clinic were unable to be manually turned off.
The Medical Council of NSW, however, said Dr Segal “posed a risk to the health and safety of the public” and that his grounds of appeal were “unpersuasive”.
“In light of the accusations made against him over an extended period, Dr Segal’s ability to make decisions in the best interests of patients is called into question,” the council said.
In his appeal, Dr Segal told the tribunal he “accepted” he allowed the doctor-patient boundary to become “blurred” by engaging in “regular telephone conversations” with the woman while driving to and from work, but did so because he was “fascinated by stories about her personal life”.
He said he had been seeing a psychologist to discuss “boundary setting” after his wife noticed he had been speaking with the patient on his phone.
In his submissions to NCAT, Dr Segal said evidence by the Medical Council was “incomplete” and that his suspension from practice was “unreasonable and plainly unjust”.
Records show Dr Segal obtained degrees in Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery in South Africa before permanently relocating to Australia in 2008.
The Rose Bay Medical Practice website states he works almost exclusively in skin cancer medicine and surgery and has treated thousands of patients across NSW and Queensland.
When contacted by NewsLocal, the manager of the practice declined to comment on the appeal. A spokesman for the Australian Skin Cancer Clinic in Edgecliff also declined to comment on the case, but said Dr Segal was on “personal leave” until September.
NCAT deputy president Jennifer Boland, who considered the appeal at a hearing last month, said the health and safety of the public was her “paramount consideration”.
Judge Boland ordered Dr Segal’s appeal to be expedited, noting there was “no doubt” the suspension was causing him personal, financial and reputational harm.
The case is due to return to NCAT for hearings on September 7 and 8.