A physiotherapist has been permanently barred from treating women after a tribunal found that he lifted a patient’s underpants.
The lady had two back pain treatments from Dr. Oscar Yildirim in 2018 at Bodyfocus Physiotherapy and Sports Injury in Sydney’s inner west.
She filed a complaint three days after the second meeting, alleging that he repeatedly grabbed beneath her clothing and lifted it.
The client said that when Mr. Yildirim took her panties off, she was laying on her stomach on a massage table.
After being found guilty in 2021, he is now subject to a six-month practise suspension. He is not allowed to treat ladies or work alone until that prohibition is lifted.
Mr. Yildirim, a physiotherapist from 1997 to 2020, has also been told to notify employers in writing of these terms within five days of beginning employment.
The employer must then provide a written and signed declaration stating that they are aware of the requirements to the Physiotherapy Council of NSW.
The patient complained to the Health Care Complaints Commission about her experience in September.
She said, “It was long enough that I felt uncomfortable enough to really say anything,” when asked how long she had been exposed.
I was unable to just wait for him to finish.
She emailed her husband during the second session and “broke down instantly.”
She said that she felt “very insecure” and “uncomfortable today.”
Her husband suggested confronting the physiotherapist, but she cried and said she just “wanted to go home.”
Mr. Yildirim stated that he handled the lady in “an totally suitable way” and refuted the accusations.
Before the Council made its judgement on Thursday, Mr. Yildirim argued that the penalty was not appropriate.
He acknowledged the alleged behaviour was “quite bad,” but said it was not “the most extreme form.”
The Tribunal, according to Mr. Yildirim, ruled the claim that he had adjusted the patient’s underpants so he could see her genitalia unfounded.
In addition, he said that his lengthy career and generally spotless record, as well as his reputation for having “excellent character,” should be taken into account.
A prominent lawyer who has known Mr. Yildirim for 30 years provided one of his character references, and she said that she had never seen the physio mistreat any women or behave in a way that was unsettling.
Despite his protests, the physio’s registration was revoked for a period of six months, after which the limitations were imposed.