A REGISTRAR at Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital has been suspended after a tribunal found him guilty of a catalogue of sexually motivated actions towards a woman colleague.

Dr Faisal Rauf Khan, who was dismissed in July last year following the incident:

  • touched her hip;
  • asked her if she was wearing any pants;
  • said he would find out later;
  • rubbed his groin against her bottom and became aroused as he did so;
  • held her face;
  • and kissed her cheek.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service decided not to strike him off after considering the evidence and a number of glowing references.

Instead he was suspended for nine months and ordered to attend a review hearing before returning to work.

It ruled that his conduct was "serious, but falls short of being fundamentally incompatible with continued registration".

It also concluded that there was no finding Khan, who was working as a urology registrar at Musgrove, "had caused any harm to a patient" and is "not a risk to patients".

A report of the findings said: "Your sexually motivated actions on Sunday, May 8, 2016, were reprehensible, you entirely misread the situation with Colleague A, were carried away by the course of events, and deeply upset her through your actions.

"However, the tribunal was of the view that this was an out of character, isolated incident.

"You attempted to apologise immediately, albeit in an inappropriate fashion - (the kiss on the cheek) - and accepted from an early stage that you had transgressed boundaries.

"The tribunal was of the view that this was a serious error in an otherwise impeccable career."

Khan was criticised at the hearing for "not being honest" in his evidence, forcing Colleague A, who cannot be named for legal reasons, "to attend the hearing and be challenged at some length".

Despite his actions, the tribunal concluded there is no evidence of a repetition of similar behaviour since the incident and there were "a significant number of mitigating factors" in the case.

Among testimonials supporting Khan was one from his current clinical and educational supervisor, who said he has "an excellent work ethic" and "good communication skills with patients as well as colleagues".

The tribunal also heard that since Khan's dismissal "the consultants in the department have certainly noticed his current absence as a detrimental effect on patient care due to cancellations etc".

In all, Khan five allegations against Khan were found proved, he admitted two others and  five were found not proved.

A spokesman for Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove, said: “We do not tolerate this sort of behaviour at Musgrove Park Hospital. It is unacceptable for any doctor to behave in this way and Dr Khan is no longer an employee at the trust.

“We have been supporting Colleague A since this incident was reported.”