‘Are you touching yourself?’: Chiro who allegedly sexually touched patient fights to be reinstated

An Aussie chiropractor was barred from the industry after allegedly touching a patient’s genitals. Now he’s fighting to practise again.

EXCLUSIVE

A Sydney chiropractor who was struck off after he allegedly asked a patient whether she had a boyfriend before removing her underwear and touching her genitals without consent is fighting to be reinstated in the industry.

In April, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) found Camden Healthcare Centre chiropractor Atil Singh guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.

During a session with a young woman in 2021, he allegedly “rubbed” the patient’s genitals without her consent before he took her hand, directed it towards her groin and said: “You need to be touching yourself.”

Mr Singh’s licence was cancelled with a 2.5-year non-review period.

However on Friday, Mr Singh appeared in the NSW Supreme Court arguing he was “denied procedural fairness” by NCAT.

Mr Singh was struck off from his profession following allegations brought to the tribunal by the HCCC. Picture: Supplied

He said he was “unfairly” found to be “dishonest” after the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) alleged he “colluded with various witnesses” during the NCAT proceedings.

Mr Singh told the court these allegations were not put to him directly during his cross-examination and was therefore not allowed to “respond” to the claim.

Despite this, NCAT made a finding of “collusion” which formed the reasoning to have his registration as a chiropractor cancelled.

In handing down his decision in the Supreme Court on Friday, Justice John Griffiths upheld his complaints and said the HCCC had “every opportunity” to put the claims directly to Mr Singh.

Mr Singh rented a room at Camden Healthcare Centre. Picture: Google

He said that the fact that the collusion claim was used to decide his sanctions constituted a “clear denial of procedural fairness” to Mr Singh.

Justice Griffith ruled a NCAT “rehearing” to be held in the coming months.

Mr Singh started at Camden Physical Health in Sydney’s southwest in October 2017.

In June 2021, he started seeing a patient who suffered multiple workplace injuries.

Mr Singh allegedly made multiple “inappropriate” comments to her, including

“You need a boyfriend, so they can touch you instead of me” and “Are you touching yourself?”

She said he also asked if she had “found a boyfriend yet”.

During one consultation, he “inappropriately rubbed the patient’s vaginal area and clitoris with his hand in circumstances where no prior consent was obtained”.

NCAT found there was no “proper clinical justification for the conduct”

The patient spoke to her sister-in-law about the conduct before reporting the alleged conduct to the HCCC.