‘Golden boy’ surgeon asked trainees if they wore matching underwear, tribunal hears
A “golden boy” transplant surgeon who asked trainees if they wore matching underwear abused his position to sexually harass colleagues, a tribunal has found.
James Gilbert, 47, had his medical licence suspended for eight months after an independent panel ruled that he had sexually harassed four women and inappropriately touched three of them.
The panel found he had made inappropriate sexual comments and racist remarks, and abused his position of power at the “prestigious” Oxford Transplant Centre.
During one operation, the married father of two asked a trainee what kind of underwear she was wearing.
“You’re a well-together girl, you must always wear matching underwear. What kind are you wearing now?” he said.
A separate trainee mentored by Mr Gilbert was also asked if she was wearing matching underwear. On one occasion he stared at her body 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 consent on numerous occasions. He also squeezed her thigh between his thighs under the operating table, the panel heard.
‘Looked great in scrubs’
She told the tribunal she did not feel she was in a “position of equal power” to speak out about the issue at the time, and that he was the “golden boy” of the department and the “be-all-and-end-all for transplants in Oxford”.
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.”
One of the trainees made a formal complaint of sexual harassment by the consultant to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2014, but claimed 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.
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.
Found to have made racist remarks
He was also found to have made racist remarks. On one occasion during a ward round, he said: “You know how Africans clean themselves once they’ve gone to the toilet? They just use their hands, no wonder they always get infections.”
In a discussion about a colleague, he was also found to have said: “I know these Africans, they are only interested in a good time. They only come out after the sun goes down.”
Andrew McLoughlin, the tribunal chairman, found Mr Gilbert’s fitness to practise was impaired as he handed him an eight-month suspension.
Mr McLoughlin said Mr Gilbert “had demonstrated a significant degree of insight and had taken a number of steps to remediate his failings”.
“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 qualified in 2000 at the University of Southampton. 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.
He has 28 days to appeal against the suspension.