A DOCTOR alleged to have carried out a string of sex attacks on patients at his Dudley surgery has told a jury he used manipulative therapy to ease their pain and discomfort as part of his duty to give them his best possible care.

Jaswant Rathore also disputed claims by one patient that she had been sexually assaulted during treatment.

The 60-year-old maintained the allegation was "untrue" and said parts of the body had to be exposed for treatment.

He added: "You have to be sensitive to a patient's needs. If you are using your hands a patient may feel movement."

The doctor described his long list of qualifications to the jury as he stressed he had studied hands-on manipulative therapy under the guidance of experts in that field.

But Rathore, who has denied 18 charges of sexual assault on eight patients at his Castle Meadows surgery, agreed he had not got a certificate to say he was qualified for manipulative therapy.

The doctor, who was a clinical lead on Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group, said he had learned all the theories behind hands-on manipulation and it had always been his intention to carry on with the practice.

And he said he would offer manipulation to patients who complained about painful problems involving their back or their hips.

He would administer "short sharp" movement to both sides of their body while accepting there had been problems regarding the presence of a chaperone during treatment.

The doctor admitted they did not always record it if a chaperone had been declined by a patient.

He said the female patient - one of his alleged victims - had a long history of hip problems and he had to touch muscles to determine the exact location of the trouble.

The nine-woman three-man jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how the doctor, who lives in Ploughmans Walk, Wall Heath, gave her manipulative therapy.

But he emphasised everything he had done had been an essential part of her diagnosis and treatment as he went on to tell the panel the rest of what she had said in evidence had not been true.

The prosecution has alleged the doctor carried out the sex attacks to fuel his "illicit sexual needs" and he had gone beyond what was needed medically as an excuse to touch them inappropriately.

Heidi Kubik, prosecuting, claimed he derived sexual pleasure from his actions - having been trusted by all his patients.

Rathore is alleged to have committed the offences between November 2008 and March 2015 and his trial, which is expected to end in the New Year, is continuing.