Doctors accused of rape and sexual harassment, sexual assault, have been left free to work in the NHS after being given unduly lenient sanctions.
New research, published on Thursday, shows more than a third of doctors, who faced tribunals over sexual misconduct in 2023-24, were allowed to return to working in hospitals after being given short suspensions rather than being struck off.
The research comes as reports show General Medical Council has had to challenge multiple cases in court in which the Medical Practitioner’s Tribunal Service, which rules on fitness to practice hearings, has given a more lenient sanction to alledged sexual predators than proposed by the GMC.
In one case, a doctor was given a 12-month suspension by the Medical Practitioner’s Tribunal Service following an accusation of rape after a tribunal deemed it a “one-off”, and in another, the MPTS was challenged over a decision not to sanction a doctor accused of touching a patient’s breasts.
Now, a surgeon who was found to have sexually harassed multiple colleagues from 2009 to 2022 and made racist statements is allowed to work again, with one of his victims saying the MPTS decision has made her feel “utterly worthless and utterly let down by the system.”
Last year, The Independent revealed that between 2018 and 2024, some 248 doctors faced allegations of rape, sexual assault or attempted rape without their licences being suspended.
Responding to the research, surgeons and campaigners, Ms Tamzin Cuming and Professor Carrie Newlands, on behalf of the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery (WPSMS), warned: “The current system fails staff, fails patients, and fails to guarantee an environment that delivers safe care…
“Without reform, powerful perpetrators will continue with impunity. Targets will remain silenced, knowing that reporting to a system designed to protect perpetrators, not patients, risks their careers. Right now, the system gives little more than a slap on the wrist for abuse, when only erasure and accountability can ensure safety.”
The research, published on Thursday, looked at 222 MPTS decisions against doctors from August 2023 to August 2024. Of those hearings, 55 involved sexual misconduct.
In 35 per cent of cases doctors the GMC proposed that the doctors be struck off ;however were only given suspension by the MPTS. All cases involving children resulted in erasure.
Mei Nortley, consultant vascular surgeon and lead author of the research, said: “Allowing rapists, sexual predators and those who use manipulation and coercion to return as practising doctors brings this into question.”
‘Utterly let down’
As of last week, surgeon Dr James Gilbert is allowed to work after being suspended for 12 months over multiple proven allegations of sexual harassment of female colleagues. The General Medical Council had to take Dr Gilbert’s case to the High Court after the MPTS only gave him a suspension of eight months rather than the striking off recommended by the GMC.
The high court extended Dr Gilbert’s suspension to 12 months; however, following the ruling in a decision published on 2 September, an MPTS panel declined to extend his suspension.
One of Dr Gilbert’s victims told The Independent after his suspension expired: “I think it feels that sexual harassment we had to face and the outcome means, all of the years it took make me feel utterly worthless.
“The reason we pursued this for so many years was to protect others coming up behind us, and all that person sacrificed to protect others is wasted – I feel utterly let down by a system that should be protecting us and the public.”
She added: “I worry it’s [the decisions] impact on others who won’t report this kind of behaviour again.”
In a case revealed by The Independent this year, the GMC suggested erasure for Dr Cian Hughes, who had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient while she was a teenager, but the MPTS suspended him instead.
Further cases, in which the GMC decided to legally challenge an MPTS decision, include one against a doctor accused of rape.
In a case last year, the MPTS gave a doctor accused of rape a 12-month suspension rather than erasure. The GMC decided to challenge the decision as it believed it erred in finding that the doctor had a reasonable belief of consent and that it was “deeply uncomfortable with the victim-blaming narrative from the tribunal.
The appeal is yet to be heard. A spokesperson for the GMC said: “We have issued an appeal on the grounds that the sanction imposed by the independent tribunal was insufficient to protect the public, and protect the public’s confidence in the profession.”
In another case, the GMC successfully challenged the MPTS’ decision over a doctor, Dr Neil Gerrard, who had been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour with two patients, including touching the breasts of one patient and asking another to remove her underwear when it was not clinically needed.
The GMC also attempted to challenge a case against Dr Kausik Ray, who was convicted of sexual assault in May 2022, but in July 2024 was given a 12-month suspension rather than erasure. Dr Ray returned to India where he trained in November 2022.
In October 2024 the GMC was sucessful in challenging an MPTS decision that Dr Maxwell Dugboyele’s fitness to practoce wasn’t impaired despite having found misconudct
A spokesperson for the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service said: “We recognise the impact of our work and tribunal decisions on the lives of all those involved in our hearings.
“It is important that doctors have a fair hearing, that thoroughly assesses all the evidence presented by both the GMC and the doctor and that the tribunal comes to an impartial decision.
“We will soon publish a new suite of guidance for tribunals, covering all aspects of our hearings. It will draw together existing guidance and recent case law, as well as best practice from other jurisdictions, to assist tribunals in reaching consistent and well-reasoned decisions.”
