Christchurch physio Peter Chum struck off after inappropriate, intimate massage

Christchurch physiotherapist Peter Chum has been struck off for an inappropriate massage of a patient.

A Christchurch physiotherapist has been struck off for asking to massage an intimate area of a woman referred to him for vocal problems.

Peter William Chum appeared before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal on allegations of professional misconduct.

Although he did not appear at the hearing, Chum denied 11 charges of professional misconduct arising out of an appointment with a woman at her home in 2016.

The complainant, who has permanent name suppression, had suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident and was recovering from surgery.

She had constant fatigue, severe headaches, partial hearing loss, a weak cough reflex and had difficulty swallowing, while changes to her voice and pitch meant she was not able to sing.

A residential rehabilitation unit referred her to Chum, an experienced physiotherapist, to look at her problems with voicing and swallowing.

He came to her house in May 2016.

After treating her throat and neck muscles, Chum offered to massage her lower back, saying muscle tension there could be adding to her vocal problems.

She agreed before Chum asked her to "take all of [her] clothes off".

Thinking this was strange, she double-checked and Chum confirmed that he wanted her to remove her clothing and asked if she had a bathrobe or something to put on.

After lying face down on the massage table, he asked her to remove her robe before he put a towel over her.

Chum began massaging her lower back and on to the top of her buttocks before asking her to roll over.

He then started massaging the outer and then middle of her thighs, which she "just felt weird about it".

Chum, described as being "very calm", then began massaging her inner thigh and she wondered if she was meant to say "no" at some point.

He kept moving the towel which left her "exposed", the tribunal heard.

Chum then told her "he was going to massage [her] clitoral region, and asked was [she] comfortable with that", the tribunal heard.

The patient replied "no", Chum said, "That's fine", and the massage stopped.

The treatment stopped "abruptly", the tribunal heard, and Chum started packing up.

When the patient asked him if he massaged other patients that way, he said he had, but admitted he didn't write it into his reports.

Four days later, Chum emailed her with "an apology and an explanation for [their] appointment on Monday".

Chum felt that he overstepped his professional scope and "that may have left [the patient] offended or confused by [his] role in the management of [the patient's] vocal symptoms when recovering from [her] injury".

Chum apologised and acknowledged that his intervention "may not have been appropriate" and that his approach "towards the end of [the] session was not a reflection of [his] normal practice".

After speaking with friends, she decided to lay a complaint against Chum with the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand.

They investigated and banned Chum from treating female patients.

But he breached the conditions, going on to treat at least 14 women, and he was fined $2000 and ordered costs of $25,000.

The tribunal upheld the charges against him and cancelled his registration as a physiotherapist.

Chum's also been ordered to pay $40,000 in costs.