Doctor struck off for fondling nurse and asking her for a kiss fails to get NHS job again after telling disciplinary panel: ‘Working with lovely girls is typically irresistible’
A shameless doctor struck off after he fondled a nurse and asked her for a kiss has lost a legal bid to to get his NHS job back after he stunned a disciplinary panel by declaring: ‘Working with beautiful women is sometimes irresistible.’
Dr Stoyan Tsonchev, 48, had been removed from the medical register in 2016 after he placed his hands on the nurse’s shoulder and stroked her back before saying: ‘What about a kiss before you leave?’
He was also found guilty of bungling medical treatment on three patients – one of whom was discharged from hospital with a cannula still stuck in their arm – and was caught working on hospital wards while suspended.
Tsonchev has since tried twice to get his name restored to the register, but was told his ‘continued lack of insight into his significant failures’ has led the panel to ‘indefinitely suspend’ his right to apply again.
In 2022 he failed after he claimed mistakes will be made ‘when you are tired at work’, but his mistakes were not ‘crucial’.
Dr Stoyan Tsonchev, 48, who was struck off after he fondled a nurse and asked her for a kiss has lost a legal bid to to get his NHS job back after telling a disciplinary panel: ‘Working with beautiful women is sometimes irresistible’
Tsonchev, who has twice tried to get himself restored on the register, is currently working at a hospital in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia
He also said his opinion was ‘better than others’ and added: ‘I don’t think at the time I posed a risk to patients or anyone else.’
Earlier this month, Tsonchev, who is from Bulgaria, attempted to get permission to work as a doctor in the UK for a second time, but told a tribunal in Manchester: ‘The nurse was so pretty and it was irresistible to touch her.
‘She could have responded to my feelings and it couldn’t have been a huge and unbearable effort for her.
‘Surely if it is a big issue I will try not to disturb the nurses in that manner, I promise!
‘If it’s a big deal, I’m not going to do this in the future.’
When challenged about described deficiencies in his work, Tsonchev said they were ‘small ones’ and added: ‘If they didn’t lead to the death of a patient, I think they’re not so big.
‘If they’re small or middle, it’s not so important, but no one died during my work in UK as a doctor.’
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, a fitness to practise medical panel refused Tsonchev’s request to work in the UK – and also suspended him indefinitely from making any further applications.
He is currently working at a hospital in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
The Manchester hearing was told Tsonchev, who qualified in 1998, was given a licence to practice medicine in Britain in 2010, and worked at Tunbridge Wells Hospital Emergency Department in Kent, Epsom General Hospital in Surrey and Yeovil District Hospital in Somerset.
But he landed in trouble in 2013 while at Tunbridge Wells and Epsom over his conduct towards the nurse and his treatment of three patients – known as A, D and E.
One was not given proper pain medication during a procedure, a second was sent home with an IV drip in situ, and the third was proposed a treatment plan for taking activated charcoal powder – three hours after they overdosed.
He further used his mobile telephone to discuss a business bank account in the presence of a patient.
Tsonchev, who qualified in 1998, worked at a number of hospitals including Epsom General Hospital in Surrey
Tsonchev was initially suspended in 2013, but was caught working at Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in breach of his suspension, and in 2015 was found guilty of sexually motivated misconduct towards the nurse known as Mrs J and deficient professional performance.
He was struck off the following year after he criticised the disciplinary proceedings saying: ‘I would like to say that all the accusations are unfair, illogical and extremely exaggerated.
‘I would like to attend the hearings but they are going to be held in Manchester, too far from the place I live now.
‘I do not want to waste my money travelling for such pointless matters of consideration.’
During his latest attempt to get his job back, Tsonchev, who appeared unrepresented, said in the last eight years he had undertaken work in his native country largely unsupervised, though some of the more complex and major surgeries were supervised.
He insisted there were no work appraisals in Bulgaria, ‘not like in the UK where things were so strict.’
He said ‘things were a bit more relaxed in Bulgaria’, and he did not offer any character references attesting to his work in Eastern Europe.
He also claimed he had only asked the nurse for a kiss, because a set of instructions he had received in relation to a patient had led him to be in an ‘elated mood’.
When asked why he had carried on treating patients while suspended, Tsonchev replied: ‘It was only one shift – I had to gain some money to go back to Bulgaria.’
Lawyer for the General Medical Council Ms Jane Ironfield said: ‘Dr Tsonchev has a tendency to blame others.
‘There was no genuine evidence of reflection, but just bare assertions that he would conduct himself differently.
‘There was no indication of what he would do differently. In relation to Patient A, Dr Tsonchev stated there was some pain, but the pain was ‘bearable’.
‘His response in respect of Patient A shows a lack of empathy and no remorse.
‘As regards Mrs J, Dr Tsonchev’s statement was concerning as it shows he could not resist touching her.
‘His response shows no understanding of the impact of his actions.
‘His statement shows no evidence of empathy and no consideration of the feelings of Mrs J, saying ‘it could not have been an unbearable effort’.
‘There was no empathy, no apology and no indication that Dr Tsonchev understands why his touching of Mrs J was inappropriate.
Tsonchev was also found guilty of bungling medical treatment upon three patients – one of whom was discharged from hospital with a cannula still stuck in their arm – and was caught working on hospital wards while suspended
‘His words, “if it was such a big issue” tend to suggest that Dr Tsonchev does not think that the touching was such a big issue.’
MPTS chairman Ms Ruona Iguyovwe said: ‘Dr Tsonchev has failed to demonstrate that he fully understood the impact of his conduct.
‘There was no remorse shown and he demonstrated no empathy for some of the patients.
‘Even now he does not appear to have fully understood the gravity of his misconduct.
‘In light of the terms of its determination to refuse restoration, the Tribunal has decided to impose a direction to suspend indefinitely the right of Dr Tsonchev to make further applications for restoration.
‘The Tribunal considers this necessary because of Dr Tsonchev’s continued lack of insight into his significant failures despite the lapse of time since the events that gave rise to his erasure.’
