Call for 'vital lessons' from abuse doctor case

Iuliu Stan sexually abused patients while working at the Royal Cornwall Hospital between 2015 and 2020

A patient who was abused by a doctor at the Royal Cornwall Hospital has said "nobody should have the power for this to happen again"

It comes as there are fresh calls for a full independent investigation into how Dr Iuliu Stan was able to sexually abuse patients while working as a senior house officer from 2015 to 2020.

A misconduct hearing last year found he subjected mainly male patients to "intimate and invasive procedures".

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) has admitted liability, but said it could not currently comment in detail while it worked with safeguarding services and the police.

'I trusted the hospital'

One victim, who was 21 at the time he was treated by Dr Stan in 2019, told the BBC he knew something was "odd" and he spoke to family and friends about it.

He said he thought about it often and he was not surprised to get a letter from the RCHT last year.

He said: "I didn't take it further at the time because I just had so much trust in the process at Treliske [the Royal Cornwall Hospital].

"It made me doubt myself that it happened and I put my trust in the staff and I put my trust in the fact it's a hospital.

"As much as we can do to stop this happening in the future, it needs to be done. People's work needs to be monitored more and I think it would be a good idea to investigate a bit more.

"Ideally, this should never happen again."

'Despicable betrayal'

One law firm representing about 30 victims, Enable Law, said its clients wanted answers.

Solicitor Gary Walker said the hospital had said there had already been investigations carried out which looked at Stan's actions.

He said: "What we say hasn't happened is looking at the root causes... what could be done differently in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again.

"To suggest these are the actions of a rogue doctor and that the doctor is no longer able to practice medicine in this country is enough will paper over the issues.

"There has to be an opportunity to properly and fully investigate what's happened, to make sure changes are made so no-one else has to go through what my clients did."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This was a despicable betrayal of trust and our thoughts are with Iuliu Stan's victims.

"It is vital that lessons are learned from this horrendous case and action taken to ensure it is not repeated."

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said: "We are completely committed to openness and candour and take our responsibilities to the former patients of Dr Stan very seriously. However, due to ongoing enquiries, we are unable to comment in detail on this case.

"We are working with safeguarding services and the police and are offering support to those patients we have directly contacted about their care."