Top lung surgeon suspended after 'squeezing' junior female colleague's bottom and 'brushing his body against her breasts'

A top lung surgeon has been suspended after a 'squeezing' a junior female colleague's bottom and 'brush[ing] his body against her breasts' twice, a tribunal heard.

Dr Rajesh Shah, who was a consultant thoracic surgeon at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, was found to have sexually harassed his co-worker by a tribunal.

The 61-year-old also confessed to calling female members of staff 'birds' when he forgot there names, and also had colleagues do sections of his mandatory training.

Allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards two female co-workers, which occurred between 2005 and 2021, was placed against the lung doctor.

It was claimed that some of that behaviours 'constituted of sexual harassment. The tribunal later found that allegations made by one co-worker were not proved.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found him guilty of serious misconduct and he was suspended for 12 months.

After a complaint was lodged against the lung surgeon, the Trust began an investigation into Dr Shah in 2021.

By the following April, the consultant was dismissed with the incident also being referred to the police.

There was an 'imbalance of power' between Dr Shah, who qualified at Bombay University in 1988, and the complainants, the tribunal said.

On October 11, 2014, Dr Shah put his arm around a female staff member, known as Colleague B, and 'steered her towards the coffee room'.

There he gave her a hug and touched and squeezed her bottom.

On October 2, 2019, Dr Shah is said to have started a conversation with Colleague B, during which he 'brushed his body against her breasts' and 'squeezed her right buttock'.

Colleague B told the tribunal: 'I recall telling Dr Shah that he... could not touch me like he did there as I did not like it and never to do it again.

'I recall he apologised and said he wouldn't do it again. He wasn't surprised or shocked that I had approached him,

'I got the impression that he knew what he did was wrong. The conversation was very quick.'

Dr Shah denied any wrongdoing, dubbing himself as 'tactile by nature' and stating there may have been 'social touching.

Following the incident, Colleague B lodged a formal complaint, to which Dr Shah responded to her in a written format, the tribunal heard.

'I am writing to apologise for making you feel uncomfortable,' he wrote.

'I understand that I hurt you by compromising your personal space and by touching you in a way which you felt was inappropriate. For this I am truly sorry.'

The tribunal ruled that any well-informed member of the public or colleague would find Dr Shah's conduct towards Colleague B 'deporable', concluding he was guilty of 'serious misconduct'

The tribunal ruled Dr Shah's conduct constituted sexual harassment because it created an 'intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment'.

Rosalind Emsley-Smith, representing the General Medical Council, said his 'grossly inappropriate' behaviour meant Dr Shah should be struck off.

Representing Dr Shah, Stephen Brassington, argued that would be disproportionate, adding that while the lung surgeon 'let down the profession' his 'conduct towards his patients had always been appropriate and proper.'

'A right thinking reasonable member of the public would want him back at work as soon as possible in an effort to make amends,' Mr Brassington continued.

The tribunal, chaired by Gerry Wareham, suspended Dr Shah for a year, concluding that while his misconduct was a 'serious breach it 'fell short of being fundamentally incompatible with continued registration'.

Several other allegations against Dr Shah, made by a different woman referred to as Colleague A, and spanning between 2005 and 2021, were found not proved.

They included claims that he masturbated in her presence, put his hands up her skirt, touched her genitals over her underwear, 'rubbed his penis up and down her legs' and touched her bottom and breasts while she was sat in his office.