GP accused of sexually assaulting patients says he wants tests because of Jade Goody | Rare Techy

A GP accused of carrying out intimate examinations of women’s vaginas and breasts when they didn’t want them claimed they did it because they were anxious.

Manish Shah, 53, told the police that the patients were more anxious after Jade Goody’s death and claimed that they had asked for the test.

The reality TV star died of cervical cancer in 2009 at the age of 27.

‘It is well documented that these cases have helped raise public awareness of women’s health issues,’ Shah claimed.

‘It is better to test patients than to stick to educational guidelines and fail to test the patient.’

Shaw is accused of abusing eight women, some of them teenagers, between October 2009 and July 2013 at a medical center in Romford, Essex.

The Old Bailey heard today that Shaw said during a police interview that he had ‘observed a more proactive approach than the response received in America’.

‘I do intimate tests only when necessary,’ he added.

‘I have a holistic and methodical approach, which means I am more thorough than my peers.

“I am deeply shocked by these allegations. I believe that all the tests I performed on these patients were clinically justified.’

Shah explained that it is standard practice for patients being screened to remove their clothes and that he always puts on gloves before the test.

Shah said there is no sexual motivation in touching his patients, and ‘all the tests are the result of requests from my patients who are concerned about their health.

Shah, who insisted he was not sexually motivated, told police that there were times when patients were told they didn’t need a test, but they asked for one anyway. At other times he advised testing but did not do it because the patients were not interested

“Guidelines are not tram lines to be followed in all cases,” Shah added.

He acknowledged that ‘compared to other GPs I may have a relatively low threshold for asking for a review’. My decision to perform an intimate examination is sometimes made to address a patient’s concerns.

‘My practice may not be typical of all GPs, but as far as I know, in all my years as a doctor I have never missed a cancer.’

Shaw, H, from Romford, is said to have forced women to undergo invasive vaginal examinations and breast examinations when they did not have a medical need, breaching guidelines on the use of chaperones.

He denies 23 counts of assault by penetration and 18 counts of sexual assault.

Shah’s trial will continue tomorrow with the taking of evidence.

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