Dr Kim Yong: GP’s registration suspended for six months after ‘inappropriate’ conduct with female patient

A Hobart GP has had his registration suspended for six months after he was found to have behaved inappropriately with a female patient who told him she had been sexually abused by another doctor.

A Tasmanian GP has had his registration suspended for six months after he was found to have engaged in professional misconduct. He will also be reprimanded.

A Hobart doctor has had his registration suspended for six months after he hugged and kissed a female patient who had confided in him that she had been sexually abused by another GP.

Dr Kim Yong, 68, was alleged to have violated professional boundaries between himself and a patient on a number of occasions in 2013, including hugging and kissing her.

The Medical Board of Australia referred his conduct to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) in September 2023 following a complaint from the patient in question.

TASCAT ruled on July 12 that the doctor had engaged in professional misconduct and should be officially reprimanded under the Health Practitioner National Law Act.

It also moved to suspend his registration as a health practitioner for six months.

The Mercury is not suggesting that Dr Yong engaged in criminal wrongdoing.

A Tasmanian GP has had his registration suspended for six months after he was found to have engaged in professional misconduct. Picture: iStock

Dr Yong previously practised at Davey Street Medical Centre, which has since closed.

The complainant, whose name has been withheld, said she attended clinical consultations with Dr Yong in 2013 because her regular GP was on leave and she was experiencing health issues.

At her first appointment with Dr Yong, the complainant told him that she felt anxious seeing a different doctor because she had been sexually abused by another GP. While telling him this, she began to cry, the tribunal heard.

TASCAT deputy president Alison Clues said Dr Yong moved his chair close to the complainant and “told her she looked like she needed a hug”. He then hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.

The tribunal heard the doctor hugged the complainant and kissed her cheek when she started to cry at another appointment, before asking if it was OK for him to do so, to which the complainant replied it was, as long as the kiss was out of “caring concern”.

As the complainant left the consultation room, the doctor kissed her on the cheek and the complainant gave him a kiss on the cheek in return.

At another appointment, when the complainant indicated she was ready to end the consultation, Dr Yong put his hands on her shoulders and then kissed her on both cheeks, the tribunal was told, causing the complainant to “freeze” and “cry”.

A Tasmanian GP has had his registration suspended for six months after he was found to have engaged in professional misconduct

The complainant then told the doctor that it “wasn’t right for him to be doing that”, Ms Clues said.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) received a notification from the complainant on August 5, 2019, alleging that Dr Yong had engaged in inappropriate conduct.

The doctor responded to the notification on September 20 of that year, making “no admissions in relation to the alleged conduct”, Ms Clues said.

However, Dr Yong did admit to the allegations before the tribunal. In a “very brief” document signed by the doctor and dated March 13, 2024, he apologised and acknowledged his conduct had been “inappropriate”.

In her victim impact statement, the complainant said Dr Yong’s conduct had had a negative impact on her health, family, and social life.

Ms Clues said the case involved a patient who was “known by the respondent to be vulnerable”, which made his actions “very serious”.

Originally published as Dr Kim Yong: GP’s registration suspended for six months after ‘inappropriate’ conduct with female patient