WA doctor on trial over sex offences

A West Australian doctor tried to kiss patients, touched their genitals and fondled their breasts under the guise of doing medical examinations, a jury has heard.

Ranjit Kumar Panda, 59, is on trial in the WA District Court accused of 11 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual penetration without consent, allegedly committed against eight women in the South West city of Bunbury in 2012.

Most of Panda's complainants were aged in their early 20s but one was 17.

In his opening address on Monday, prosecutor Justin Whalley said the general practitioner offered patients Pap smears and skin cancer checks, despite some women coming to him for unrelated health problems.

A mother with a three-month-old baby and a teenager with eczema who came to see Panda with her mum are among the complainants.

When he examined the 17-year-old girl, Panda allegedly rubbed her nipples while whispering, "not bad, not bad", as her mother sat on the other side of the curtain.

Mr Whalley alleged Panda also tried to kiss and hug some patients, and offered to buy them clothes and lingerie when he went to Sydney.

He said the trial was not about Panda's competence as a doctor, but centred on whether the jury accepted the doctor abused the trust of his patients.

Defence counsel Simon Watters, who said his client had been a heart surgeon for 20 years and general practitioner for seven years, asked the jury to keep an open mind and assess the credibility of each witness.

He said Panda had seen about 10,000 patients in 2012, most of whom were female.

Mr Watters claimed the other doctors at the practice were jealous of Panda, who had "upset the equilibrium" by seeing a lot of walk-in patients.

The jury has been told this is a re-trial, but have not heard the details.

The trial continues.