Why do we use chaperones in clinical practice?
A chaperone’s main role is to provide reassurance and emotional support for a patient undergoing a procedure they may find embarrassing or uncomfortable such as intimate examinations or examinations under dim lights or where the doctor needs to get very close.
“Wherever possible, you should offer the patient the security of having an impartial observer (a chaperone) present during an intimate examination. This applies whether or not you are the same gender as the patient.” (Guidance from GMC)