A doctor admitted bombarding a colleague with homophobic messages telling him his colleagues were gossiping about his sexuality and “didn’t want a gay” in their department.
Dr Lydia Krexi sent the medic, known as Dr A, a string of texts and WhatsApp messages telling him other doctors were speculating about his sexuality and wanted him to work elsewhere.
Dr Krexi – who qualified in medicine in Greece in 2017 – told Dr A that his colleagues in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary orthopaedics department believed he was “gay or racist” and wanted him to work in Inverness instead.
The medic, whose conduct is alleged to have been sexually motivated after Dr A rejected her, also admitted making anonymous phone calls to Dr A and accessing his medical records.
A hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard Dr Krexi admitted sending inappropriate messages via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and text to Dr A between May 19, 2019, and June 2, 2019.
Dr Krexi admitted that between March 2019 and June 2019, she made one or more anonymous telephone calls to Dr A’s mobile phone, as well as that between April 3 2019 and May 30 2019, on one or more occasion she accessed and viewed his electronic patient records without clinical justification.
She also admitted sending one or more inappropriate messages to Dr A between May 19 2019 and June 2 2019, and that seven of the messages were “homophobic in nature”.
A tribunal is set to determine whether messages sent to another medic, Dr B, were inappropriate, and whether her conduct was sexually motivated, as well as whether her fitness to practice is impaired. “because of misconduct”.
‘They say that you are probably gay’
On May 20, Dr Krexi told Dr A that colleagues at ARI “comment on the fact that you don’t have a girlfriend”.
She wrote: “They say that you are probably gay. Ortho consultants are not happy. They say that they don’t want a gay in their department and they should send you to Inverness.”
On May 25, Dr Krexi texted Dr A again telling him that consultants and registrars were “talking about you again”.
She wrote: “Half were saying that you are gay and half that you are racist and you don’t want European or Christian women. Gay or racist doesn’t sound good and it isn’t nice that they talk about you like this all the time.”
On June 2, Dr Krexi sent a message on WhatsApp suggesting that Dr A was not going to be offered another job at ARI because the consultants “think you are weird”.
She wrote: “You have never been with a girl. They have only seen you with [Dr B] and they think that you are in love with him.
“It is unacceptable for an orthopaedic surgeon to be gay and they don’t want anyone like you at the department.”
Dr Krexi then insisted she was sharing the information with Dr A because she “wanted to help”, before adding: “How do you feel that you work in a hospital that [sic] everyone knows that you are gay and they laugh at you?
“They said that you shouldn’t be using the male changing room, you should go with the ladies. Your walk also shows what you do every night.”
Later that same day, Dr Krexi – who is now employed by the NHS in Thames Valley, England – sent Dr A a message via Facebook insisting that she had not contacted him “since you told me that you aren’t interested” but had felt “sad that you didn’t want me”.
She continued: “I had good intentions. Why do you want to hurt me? I am not a whore because I am Christian and I am not desperate for a man.”
Dr Krexi is also alleged to have sent inappropriate messages via Facebook in June 2019 to a married male colleague, known only as Dr B.
In one, dated June 1, she is alleged to have written that ARI doctors “talk about your pal, [Dr A]”, adding: “There are girls flirting with him and he prefers to be alone. His consultants think that he is gay.
“They are upset and they say that it is unacceptable for an orthopaedic surgeon to be gay. They want to send him to Inverness.
“They have only seen him with you and they say that he may be in love with you.”
On June 2, Dr Krexi is alleged to have written to Dr B again claiming that another orthopaedic colleague had checked Dr A’s phone while he was in theatre, adding: “He saw his texts saying that he wants to make you get a divorce.
“There were very naughty texts about you.”
The case, which is ongoing, was referred to the MPTS by the General Medical Council.
It will be up to the MPTS to rule on any possible sanction for misconduct.