Oxford surgeon gets eight-month suspension for harassing female colleagues
A “golden boy” transplant surgeon who sexually harassed four females colleagues has been suspended for eight months.
Three of the victims of James Gilbert worked at the “prestigious” Oxford Transplant Centre, a medical tribunal heard.
One woman said she did not feel she was in a “position of equal power” to speak out about the 47-year-old married father-of-two when he tickled her and massaged her shoulders without her consent.
She said his status was the “golden boy” of the department and that he was the “be-all and end-all for transplants in Oxford”.
Another former colleague formally complained in 2014 to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that she was being sexually harassed by the consultant but said it was “swiftly swept under the carpet” by bosses.
In May 2021 the trust “excluded” Mr Gilbert from working after concerns were raised about inappropriate comments and conduct towards staff but he was allowed to return to work six weeks later with restrictions on his practice.
A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel was told that an email was then sent to 46 current and former surgical trainees in the department which invited them to contact a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian if they wished to flag up any concerns.
An investigation by the trust followed and Mr Gilbert was dismissed in May 2022 as the matter was referred to the General Medical Council (GMC).
Last month the GMC outlined a catalogue of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Gilbert, on various dates between 2009 and 2022, which he denied.
This week the MPTS panel ruled that Mr Gilbert had sexually harassed four women and inappropriately touched three of them.
He was also found to have made inappropriate sexual comments and racist remarks, as well as abusing his more senior position in the department.
To one colleague he said: “You’re a well together girl, you must always wear matching underwear. What kind are you wearing now?”
He asked another woman if she too was wearing matching underwear and on one occasion stared at her body and breast and said: “I have been watching you and you’re pretty perfect.”
Mr Gilbert was ruled to have targeted the same woman by tickling her and massaging her shoulders without her consent at numerous times, and that he had squeezed her thigh between his thighs under the operating table.
A third colleague was told she “looked great in a pair of scrubs and didn’t need to go to the gym” and “I bet you are really wild on a night out”.
He touched a fourth woman’s knee from behind and said “your legs are so sporty”, while he also touched her waist as they passed in a corridor and remarked: “Oh dear, it’s a bit narrow for both of us here but it feels incredibly nice”.
Finding that Mr Gilbert’s fitness to practise was impaired because of misconduct, tribunal chairman Andrew McLoughlin said: “The Tribunal concluded that Mr Gilbert had demonstrated a significant degree of insight and had taken a number of steps to remediate his failings.
“However, Mr Gilbert’s insight was not fully developed into the full extent of his behaviour as found proved by the Tribunal.
“He may benefit from further time to digest and reflect on the findings against him.”
“In all the circumstances, the Tribunal determined that a period of eight months was sufficient and appropriate to mark the serious misconduct found.”
Mr Gilbert, who qualified in 2000 at the University of Southampton, has 28 days to appeal against the suspension.
The tribunal heard he is currently the chief medical officer overseeing The New Foscote Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury, both private hospitals, but also carries out NHS hernia waiting list clinics and surgeries.
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