Alder Hey doctor harassed ex-lover's partner - tribunal

The doctor was working at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool at the time of the incidents

A doctor rifled through the dustbin of a woman with whom her ex-partner was in a new relationship, a disciplinary tribunal heard.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing found Dr Adeline Salim harassed the woman.

The tribunal ruled at a meeting on Thursday that Dr Salim's fitness to practice is currently impaired, but it is yet to decide on sanctions.

She was working at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, at the time of the incident.

CCTV footage showed Dr Salim - then a junior doctor in the paediatric team at the Merseyside hospital - rummaging through Miss A's bins in the middle of the night.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that MPTS panel members confirmed on Wednesday they had found all charges against Dr Salim proven.

Among them was an incident on 10 March 2021 when the doctor, who did not attend the hearings, accessed Ms A's medical records and her children without consent.

Later that day, Dr Salim turned up outside Ms A's home at 16:00 GMT, where her former partner lived, and attempted to call to their cat before driving away.

Five days later, the doctor entered a coffee shop where Ms A was the manager and took pictures of her while she worked.

It was said Dr Salim wore a hat and long, pink coloured coat, with images captured at the shop showing a woman holding up a phone to take photographs.

Ms A said earlier in the hearing that she was confident it was Dr Salim, having been shown a picture of her online.

She had even served Dr Salim in the shop, the panel heard.

The woman said she "froze" and her "fight or flight" instincts began when she saw the individual said to be the doctor.

'Invasive presence'

Ms A said she was sickened at the doctor's "invasive" presence at her workplace.

The person in the footage had been "disguised" in a hat, mask and long coat, peering round, displaying "odd" behaviour.

On 1 April 2021, footage from an internal CCTV camera showed an individual outside Ms A's house, with their hood up and wearing a head torch approaching the driveway at night.

The video showed Dr Salim reaching into a bin, retrieving a bag and slicing it open on the driveway.

Ms A said this "really did frighten me" and it had a "long lasting effect," leaving her "quite nervous" afterward.

She said the act of going through her bins was "really spiteful, unnecessary and petty".

Marco Breen, presenting officer on behalf of the General Medical Council (GMC), said Dr Salim's actions were "dishonest or disgraceful" and brought the profession into disrepute.

The tribunal hearing, chaired by Julian Weinberg sitting alongside lay member Dr Caroline Friendship and medical member Thomas George, will reconvene later this month to consider if sanctions are appropriate, and what they might be.

A spokesperson for Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust confirmed Dr Salim was employed at the hospital at the time of the incident but offered no further comment.