Doctor worked in NHS for six months despite sexual harassment allegations

A trust is reviewing its procedures after employing a senior surgeon as a locum registrar without knowing he had been sacked from a previous role over sexual harassment allegations.

James Gilbert – who was later suspended from the medical register for eight months following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing – worked at University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust for nearly six months.

But the trust relied on a locum agency to check his references and to screen him – and was not aware of his earlier dismissal or the nature of the allegations against him.

UHSussex chief people officer David Grantham told HSJ its “recruitment of clinical staff follows the recognised, rigorous NHS processes” and it uses NHS framework providers for locums, but added: ”In this case our colleagues were not made aware of all of the information we would have expected to receive, to assist them in making their recruitment decision.

“We also accept that further enquiries could and should have been made by us, and we are reviewing our procedures to ensure they are as robust as possible.”

Mr Gilbert, a transplant and vascular access surgeon, was excluded for six weeks in mid-2021 by his then employer Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust after concerns were raised about inappropriate comments and conduct towards colleagues.

He had been allowed to come back to work with restrictions on his practice after his exclusion, but former trainees were contacted and asked to come forward with any matters of concern. After an investigation, he was sacked in May 2022.

The General Medical Council, the medical regulator, opened an investigation into his fitness to practise after receiving a referral in June 2022. Its website showed the conditions on his practice from early September 2022, and it has confirmed it “made relevant disclosures” about these conditions to a locum agency the surgeon was connected to.

But in August 2022 Mr Gilbert had begun doing locum shifts as a registrar in general surgery at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, part of UHSussex. These shifts continued until January 2023.

Allegations proven

Earlier this summer, at a hearing of the MPTS  – which rules on concerns about doctors, following GMC investigations – four women gave evidence that they had been touched by Mr Gilbert without their consent, that he had made comments about their bodies and inappropriate sexual remarks.

The tribunal found many of the allegations against him – some of which dated back to 2009 — were proven, and some of his actions amounted to sexual harassment, and may have created “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”. He was also found to have abused his more senior position.

The tribunal also found he had made derogatory comments about African and Asian people, including some about patients and colleagues – and that, in one case, this amounted to racial harassment.

The GMC argued to the panel that his fitness to practise was impaired and said he had not changed his behaviour despite earlier warnings.

But the MPTS panel decided that, although his behaviour amounted to misconduct, Mr Gilbert had reflected on its impact on others, shown remorse, and should be suspended rather than struck off. The GMC announced last week it would appeal against this decision.

Prior to his suspension, but after he was sacked by OUH, Mr Gilbert also carried out some NHS-funded work for a private hospital group – Akessa Healthcare Group, which runs the New Foscote Hospital in Banbury and the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury – and in January 2023 was appointed its chief medical officer.  

The group confirmed it was aware of the allegations and had discussed them with OUH and the GMC prior to his appointment, and said “specific safeguards” were put in place. In a statement, it said he had “behaved impeccably” during his employment but he left the group when he was suspended from the medical register.