An experienced Christchurch physiotherapist has been struck off the register for professional misconduct including a request to massage near a patient’s “clitoral region”. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal heard the case against Peter William Chum and announced its findings in Christchurch on Thursday. Chum faced 11 charges of professional misconduct over an appointment with a woman at her home on 2016. He denied all of the charges and did not appear before the tribunal. The complainant, whose name and identity were suppressed, had recently suffered a traumatic brain injury after an accident and was recovering after hospitalisation and surgery. Chum offered to come to her home. The woman had been referred to Chum for an assessment of vocal and swallowing problems as he specialised in this area. After assessing and treating the woman’s throat and neck muscles he offered to massage her lower back, saying muscle tension in that area could affect her vocal problems. She agreed and Chum requested she remove all of her clothes. The complainant said she thought that was strange and double checked. Chum confirmed she should take all her clothes off and put on a robe. Once she was lying face down on the massage table he asked her to remove her robe. She said Chum draped one towel over her and then asked her to roll over to lie on her back. As he worked on her hips, outer and then inner thighs he moved the towel to the side, exposing her. Each time he did this she tried to move the towel back into place. She became increasingly uncomfortable and “alarmed” as he moved higher up her inner thighs. The woman said she felt uncomfortable but did not ask Chum to stop because he seemed professional and so she thought “it must be normal”. When he asked if she was comfortable for him to massage near her clitoral region she said no and the massage stopped. The woman asked if he massaged other clients that intimate way. He told her he had and that it was helpful to release tension. She understood him to be referring to orgasm. He said in a statement to the tribunal he had not been referring to anything sexual in nature and she must have misunderstood him. She talked to friends about the appointment later that night and they told her to make a complaint. Chum, a registered physiotherapist for 13 years, was found guilty by the tribunal on Thursday of inadequate draping, unnecessary treatment and unwarranted and unwelcome touching of intimate areas of the complainant’s body. He was also found guilty of malpractice, negligence and bringing the profession of physiotherapy into disrepute for all but one charge. Chair David Carden said the tribunal found insufficient evidence Chum engaged in a conversation of a sexual nature after the treatment.
