In my twenties I allowed a podiatrist to remove the hard skin on my feet as I knelt on a chair in front of him facing the wall. He used my bottom as a headrest for his forehead and grunted as he grappled with my heels. I assumed that was the standard way to treat feet until I returned to my office and complained to the women I worked with that I had sore knees, and told them why. They laughed. I was puzzled. It took two of them to do an exaggerated role-play of an appropriate chiropodist/patient encounter before I finally got it: I was a twit. It sounds feeble but the podiatrist was holding a sharp blade and wearing a white coat so I assumed he was trustworthy.

Of course, I’m not the only person to have acted unquestionably in the presence of a medical professional. Barely a week goes by without some man in a white coat being dragged before a court or a tribunal to face accusations of inappropriate behaviour. Earlier this month, Dr Michael Rusling, from Hull, was struck off after using his position of authority to coerce two female patients into sex. Rusling must have been off sick when the topic “how to treat depression” was covered at medical school, because when one patient suffering with the condition came to his surgery he put his hands inside her bra and then, in her own words, “made a beeline for my mini-moo”.

The GMC Fitness to Practice Panel, which heard the evidence against Rusling, was advised that a “mini-moo” meant female private parts.

A white coat can have stupefying powers, as Praminder Mankoo can vouch. Last year, the trichology consultant, who ran a busy practice in Thame, Oxfordshire, was found guilty of three sexual assaults and one indecent assault. Nine of his former patients reported him to the police for inappropriate conduct during appointments.

Apparently, Mankoo had encouraged female patients to remove their clothing and to “moan” during their hair treatments; one was advised to “close her eyes and relax” during a head massage — she reopened them to discover that the doctor was wearing only his boxer shorts.

If a qualified GP can think that the cure for depression or a scalp problem is a rummage in a bra cup, then what can we expect from alternative therapists?

At present anyone with enough hot wax and the inclination to apply it can put a sign in his or her front window inviting members of the public to come in, yet as soon as they don a white coat we kid ourselves into believing that we are in the presence of someone who has taken the Hippocratic Oath.

Recently my friends and I were reduced to hysterics when one of our group revealed that she had been to a beauty therapist for a facial and had her face, neck and nipples massaged. Pleading in selfdefence above our screeching laughter she wailed: “I thought it must be OK, it seemed rude to interrupt her. There was a nice smelly candle burning and whale music playing on the CD . . .”

Dark, quiet, warm and womb-like treatment rooms can bring out a client’s inner idiot and stop him or her from asking relevant questions, or expressing doubts if a consultation is not what was expected. “There is something about the intimacy of a therapy room that seems to encourage clients to hang their common sense up with their clothes,” says Pritti Vyas, of the Bharti Vyas Holistic Therapy and Laser Centre, in Harrow, northwest London. “I am amazed by how trusting people are. Often they undress and leap on to the treatment table without wanting to know what’s going to happen next.”

According to some doctors and therapists, patient ignorance is often the cause for things going horribly wrong in the consulting room. Lorraine Ariano, of Champneys, asked her team of therapists about clients who did it their way. “One lady was due to have a body wrap. I asked her to please put on the standard-issue paper knickers. On my return she had the paper knickers on . . . but on her head with her ears sticking out of the leg holes. She must have thought it was a hairnet and I didn’t have the heart to tell her.”

Another Champneys therapist recalled: “I had a gentleman for an hour-and-a-half facial and left the room so he could get settled on the bed and on my return he was lying face down with his shorts off.”

Sometimes client expectations are set too high — or too low. A fully trained sports masseuse from West London, who works from home, has a policy of no touching below the waist or above the knees for male clients.

“This is made very clear when they book so there are no misunderstandings,” she says. “One of my regulars, a nice unassuming guy, gets an erection every time I touch him. It’s underneath a towel, but very obvious. But I consider myself a professional and he’s there for a therapeutic massage so we both ignore it and just carry on.”

At the other end of the spectrum, many clients confuse the treatment room with a confessional chamber. Relationships, infidelities, fetishes — the therapists I have spoken to agree that these topics are often discussed. “Emotional support? Sharing secrets? All part of the service,” says Pritti Vyas, adding that those “who arrive for a treatment and strip down to skimpy leopard skin print undies raise an inner smile”.

Of course, it’s not always the clients exposing their faux-animal hide undergarments. This week, Anthony Barton, 22-year-old dentist, admitted to the General District Council that he had flashed a similar thong to an assistant as a “joke”. He admitted to the disciplinary tribunal that he had groped another nurse’s bottom but claimed: “I thought at the time that she had consented. I was not aware that she was upset by any of it.”

Sometimes it’s not clear cut whether the man in the white coat has abused his position of power. Last week, a case against a dentist from Lincoln faced a retrial after the jury was discharged. Dr Adrian Heath, who fought the Gainsborough constituency for the Liberal Democrats in 2005, denied sexual misconduct with three patients, one of whom claimed he had asked her to tell him if it hurt when he tweaked her nipples. Her justification for allegedly not jumping out of the dentist’s chair immediately? “He’s the man in the white coat.”

Oh, please ...

What to do if you have a complaint

If you feel that you have been violated by a doctor or a therapist your local police should be informed.

If you need to complain about a doctor, full guidelines about how to do so are available from the General Medical Council: www.gmc-uk.org Beauty Therapists have no central regulator. Non-litigious complaints can be referred to professional associations, if your therapist is registered. The two main bodies in the UK are now the British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetology and The Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT). Their websites have a full list of working therapists.

“The sad fact is that therapists don’t have to be qualified or insured by any central body,” says the FHT marketing manager Melanie Prince, “which is why we urge clients to seek out a practitioner who is accredited. When complaints arise we can investigate them thoroughly.”

Backed by the Department of Health, the Complementary and Natural Health Care Council is a voluntary regulator that opened its first register in January to a wide range of complementary and natural healthcare practitioners. Reflexology is the fourth discipline for which the register has opened this year, joining massage therapy, nutritional therapy and aromatherapy.

Maggie Dunn is the chief executive officer of the CNHC. She says: “Public safety is paramount and it is vital that practitioners meet the CNHC minimum standards of qualification and/or experience and in addition they are signed up to a rigorous code of conduct.”

www.cnhc.org.uk

www.babtac.com

www.fht.org.uk

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