Osteopath dumped patient for sausage rolls

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A British osteopath, who left electric acupuncture needles in a patient's backside while he nipped off to a cafe for sausage rolls, has been found to have discredited his profession by a health disciplinery tribunal.

Paul Edward Bolton, who worked in Dunedin, was also found to have jammed needles into a woman's back without warning, putting holes in her t-shirt and carrying out a strong neck manipulation that left her sore for six months.

In a long list of misconduct, including talking "excessively" about himself to patients during treatments, using "inappropriate foul language" in front of them, gossiping and using intimidating language about colleagues in front of patients, and answering his mobile phone and having personal conversations during treatments, Mr Bolton was found to have brought discredit to his profession, by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT).

Mr Bolton worked as an osteopath at the Consultancy House Clinic in Dunedin, between December 17, 2011 and May 24, 2012.

Within two months of his starting work there were complaints about his behaviour. His colleagues also began to notice his unusual methods.

A massage therapist at the clinic told the tribunal he would often see Mr Bolton's clients lying unattended on the treatment table with acupuncture needles in their back.

He also described one morning when he saw Mr Bolton walk up the stairs with a coffee and a bag full of sausage rolls. There was a patient on the table "with a backside full of needles hooked up to the Tens [electro-acupuncture] machine".

When the clinic managers began to realise he left clients unattended, he was questioned, but he "just yelled and screamed" and refused to talk about it.

The HPDT ruled he had put patients at "significant risk" by leaving them alone while they had acupuncture needles inserted, particularly when electro-acupuncture was being used.

The tribunal heard numerous evidence of Mr Bolton's "excessively inappropriate foul language", and how he spent more time talking about himself than engaging with his patients.

The clinic told the tribunal the "underlying theme" from seven or eight complaints from patients had been that Mr Bolton was "aggressive with his patients, was intimidating towards his patients, swore and was too loud", with two colleagues saying they could hear all his conversations with clients through the concrete walls.

When he was confronted for using foul language by one office manager he "called her a 'f***ing c***"'.

One colleague said Mr Bolton "would typically start the sentence with a 'f***' finish it with a 'f***' and have a 'f***' somewhere in the middle of it. He would frequently use the words 'f***' and 'c***' as part of a normal conversation".

The HPDT ruled that his "use of bad language ... is unprofessional and brings discredit to the osteopathy profession".

It had come to the "distinct conclusion that Mr Bolton is a large man with a loud voice and an intimidating manner", who had told a colleague he wanted to "strangle [another colleague] slowly and watch her eyeballs pop out".

The HPDT suspended Mr Bolton for a period of 12 months, fined him $3000, and ordered him to be under strict conditions on his return to work, including six months supervision and the undertaking of professional courses. He was also ordered to pay $45,714 towards the costs of the investigation and hearing.

Consultancy House Clinic declined to comment on its former employee.

Mr Bolton could not be reached for comment, having since returned to the UK. It appears he has taken up employment with Carlisle Therapies in his native Cumbria, where his biography says he spent time in the army, police and North Sea oil rigs before training as an osteopath.

Carlisle Therapies and the osteopathy regulatory body in the UK, the General Osteopathic Council, were contacted for comment.