A municipal chief physician in Trøndelag has been suspended by the National Health Inspectorate after a number of warnings. The police have charged him under section 295 of the Criminal Code, for abusing his position to obtain sexual intercourse. The doctor has appealed against the suspension and denies criminal liability. On 9 May this year, the municipal management was made aware of the ongoing supervisory case for the first time, according to a document obtained by news. The municipal director then learned that the case concerned a complaint from November 2021 in which the doctor was accused of the following: “Sexualized language/behaviour” “Offensive degrading conduct of a consultation in autumn 2020” During June, the State Administrator received another similar complaint against the doctor. Admitting failure In a new letter, on 22 June, the municipal management was notified that the Norwegian Health Authority was considering suspending the doctor. This is based on the complaints. The National Health Inspectorate believed that there was “justified suspicion that the conditions for the aforementioned decision exist”. They further wrote that they expected the suspension case to be decided on 15 July. Eleven days later, on 4 July, the municipal director sent a statement to the Norwegian Health Authority. There he wrote that the management had full confidence in the doctor. Now the director of the municipality admits that he should have taken the matter more seriously and that they did not carry out any investigations of their own before the declaration of confidence was sent. – I regret it bitterly, he says to news. It would take over a month before the municipal director withdrew the vote of confidence. The doctor took the initiative In the statement from 4 July, it is stated that the doctor had informed the municipal director about the case on his own initiative. This is shown in documents that news has been given access to. The municipal director further wrote that the management had confidence that the doctor took the case “with the utmost seriousness”. At the same time, it says that they had two meetings with the doctor – on 11 May and 4 July – where the management was concerned with “looking after him as a GP, municipal chief physician and human being”. The municipal director pointed out in the same statement that they had taken measures to prevent such incidents from happening again, by changing the routines for gynecological examinations. Adresseavisen has also mentioned the letter of trust. – Has lied – In retrospect, it is obvious that he lied to us when he briefed us on the contents of the case. Based on what we had then, which was information from the municipal superintendent, we considered that we still had confidence in him as municipal superintendent, says the municipal director to news. The municipal superintendent’s defender, Erlend Hjulstad Nilsen, tells news that his client denies that he has in any way lied to the municipality in advance of the declaration of confidence being sent. Nor was it a statement the doctor asked the municipality to write. – My client informs me that this was a declaration that was made and formulated at the municipality’s initiative. He also adds that the municipality changed the routines for gynecological examinations in the municipality on the same day that they sent the declaration of confidence. Hjulstad Nilsen believes this indicates quite clearly that the municipality had become aware that the complaint also dealt with pelvic examinations, and not just verbal abuse. The municipal director sent this statement to the Norwegian Health Authority on 4 July. Photo: Screenshot – Had a very high star There have also been similar cases against the accused doctor in the past. The first in 2006/2007. An inspection case was then opened by the Norwegian Health Inspectorate, following reports from three women. That time the doctor received a warning. In 2017, he received another complaint against him. It was clarified with a meeting between the patient and the doctor himself. – So the letter of trust was written based on what the municipal superintendent said? You didn’t do any other research? – No. We didn’t do any research other than doing a quick search of his personnel file. And the case from 2006 was so old that it was not in the personnel folder. We based ourselves on his explanation, says the municipal director and adds: – After all, it is the case that an employee in such a position initially has a high level of trust. Because of his completely unique position in the local community, he had a very high star as of 4 July, both in the municipality’s administration and in general in the village. Do you have something to tell? We would like to hear from you if you have anything to say about this matter. Perhaps you would like to have a non-binding chat with one of our journalists who works on this? Send us an email or contact us encrypted via Signal or WhatsApp on 97 46 52 52. – Failed Since November 2021, the State Administrator in Trøndelag has received several notifications against the municipal superintendent and the police have questioned over 20 women in the case. The municipal director now admits that they should have investigated the matter much earlier. – When we see in retrospect how enormously large the case has become, and that there are constantly new revelations, it turns out that he has broken that trust towards his employer. And not least to his patients, over many years, as it appears now. The municipal director adds that he believes there will be room for such alleged abuses to be committed, when neither the municipality, the National Health Inspectorate nor the State Administrator do their job. – So you think that both the municipality, the Norwegian Health Authority and the State Administrator have failed in this case? – Yes. I think so, says the municipal director. Both the Norwegian Health Authority and the State Administrator in Trøndelag have previously stated to news that they would handle the case differently today. The Norwegian Health Authority has said that it has changed its practice since the 2006/2007 case. The state administrator has admitted that several things could have been done differently by the supervisory authorities in the case from 2017. – Far more serious Four days after the declaration of confidence was sent to the National Health Inspectorate, on 8 July, the municipality had another meeting with the doctor. There they asked questions about whether the doctor had given sufficient and correct information about the case. The doctor himself replied in the meeting that he thought the statement from the municipal director was correct. “The trust did not go directly to the professionalism, but to the fact that the employee takes the matter into his own hands and has taken the necessary steps to ensure that nothing more happens,” the municipality writes in the minutes of the meeting. To news, the municipal director says that he received new information after sending the declaration of confidence to the Norwegian Health Authority, and that this was the background for the meeting. The municipal director did not want to comment on what information was in question. – Based on openness and honesty, on 11 July, the municipal manager for education in the municipality contacted the State Administrator in Trøndelag. According to a note news has, she wanted information about the ongoing supervisory case, previous cases and the Norwegian Health Authority’s treatment. Timeline: Accusations against the municipal superintendent over several years. Among other things, the doctor is said to have offered clitoral massage. news is sitting on information about a woman who claims to have been subjected to many abuses by the municipal superintendent from 2014 until 2022. According to the woman, there should be a dozen abuses in this period. Some of the assaults are said to have taken place after working hours at the office of the municipal superintendent. news is aware that the woman has told her story to the police. A woman felt harassed and violated during a doctor’s appointment. The patient went to the doctor to check the wrist, but is said to have been felt on the bottom. She sent a complaint about the doctor to the then County Commissioner (State Administrator) – who believed that the case should be resolved through a so-called local clarification. The doctor had a meeting with the woman and then the County Governor closed the case. news is aware that at least 12 complaints against the doctor have been received by the State Administrator since November 2021. On 1 August it became known that the Norwegian Health Inspectorate has temporarily suspended the doctor’s authorization. The doctor has appealed against the suspension. The police have received dozens of inquiries about the doctor. On 24 August, it became known that he has been charged under Section 295 of the Criminal Code, for abusing his position to obtain sexual intercourse. The doctor denies guilt. Show more The state administrator stated in the telephone conversation that there were two complaints at the time, and that the doctor had received a warning in 2006 in a similar supervisory case. On 18 July, the municipal superintendent was suspended by the Norwegian Health Authority, and the municipality was informed. Two weeks later, on 1 August, the doctor was suspended from his position as municipal chief medical officer by the municipality. It was not until 10 August, more than a month after the declaration of confidence, that the municipal director sent a new statement to the Norwegian Health Authority. There he retracted what he had previously written. He wrote that the trust was based on the honesty, openness and professionalism of the employee, with the expectation that the doctor provided correct information, and that new information had come to light.
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The municipal director declared full confidence – regretted it a month later – news Trøndelag
