A doctor was suspended for three months after he attempted to film a female colleague, a fellow doctor, showering in a unisex bathroom at a hospital.
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) disciplinary tribunal ordered Dr Chen Hsing Yu to be censured. He also has to agree in writing not to participate in any similar conduct in future.
Dr Chen will be barred from practising medicine from 18 June to 17 September.
On Wednesday (19 June), the SMC published its grounds of decision regarding Dr Chen’s suspension.
Source: Google Maps
According to the document, Dr Chen admitted that he tried to record a female doctor showering in the hospital’s unisex bathroom using his phone.
The incident happened on 17 April 2020, when he was a resident trainee at the hospital.
He intended to film her through the gap under the shower door but decided against it at the last moment.
After her shower, the victim went home without knowing anything was wrong.
Later that day, her colleague told her that a nurse had seen Dr Chen trying to record her while she was showering.
The victim reported this to the police after being advised by the hospital management.
Dr Chen’s training at the hospital was terminated on 29 April.
He was also fired from MOH Holdings for misconduct on 11 May.
Following an investigation for voyeurism, he was subsequently issued a 24-month conditional warning by the police with effect from 1 June 2021.
The warning was to persuade Dr Chen to refrain from any criminal conduct in the following 24 months.
The tribunal also revealed that the aforementioned incident wasn’t the first time Dr Chen spied on someone.
On 23 April 2014, the then-undergraduate medical student in Australia used his phone to record a short video of a female classmate in a unisex bathroom at the hospital.
He later deleted the video, attended counselling, and offered a written apology to the victim, who chose not to press charges.
In 2015, a panel inquiry found that Dr Chen had “a personality structure” that made him likely to spy on females, which could affect public safety and his ability to practice medicine.
The panel recommended he attend a health programme and obtain treatment from “a suitably experienced psychiatrist”.
He told the SMC about this incident when he applied for provisional registration in Singapore in October 2015. He was able to graduate and obtained conditional registration in Singapore, according to The Straits Times.
The SMC noted that Dr Chen’s past actions in Australia were serious and wanted an eight-month suspension.
In his mitigation, Dr Chen said his actions “arose spontaneously” as he was depressed and under a lot of pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic. He also pleaded guilty and showed contrition.
He asked for a S$5,000 fine instead, saying he deserved another chance to rebuild his career as a young doctor.
The tribunal said he’s behaviour caused harm to public confidence in the medical profession.
It also found that his being a young doctor did not mitigate his actions, considering it was the second similar sexual misconduct within a few years.
His efforts to seek professional treatment for his underlying medical issues, engage in charity work, and take other measures to enhance his overall well-being were “not sufficiently material” to warrant a lighter sentence, it added.
The tribunal, however, disagreed with the SMC’s idea of a harsher sentence because student actions shouldn’t be treated the same as those of a fully qualified doctor.
It also said that a psychiatrist found it very unlikely that Dr Chen would commit a similar act again.
For his sexual misconduct, he could have faced suspension for up to three years, removal from the medical register, and a fine of up to S$100,000.
Also read: S’pore Man Plants Spy Pen In Toilet To Film Female Friends Showering, Gets 11 Weeks’ Jail
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Ginger Hendee on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
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