Senior physician, 54, suspended after he groped a feminine colleague

A senior NHS physician who was twice cleared of molesting sufferers throughout intimate examinations has been suspended after he was caught groping a feminine hospital colleague while finishing up one other medical process.

Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist Dr Narendra Kochar, 54, instructed the girl: ‘You are so lovely, very very lovely. Oh I such as you’ earlier than repeatedly touching her proper breast as she helped him deal with a affected person.

Dr Kochar, from Timperley, Greater Manchester, has beforehand been accused of sexually assaulting three ladies and ‘exploiting’ medical examinations for his ‘personal sexual gratification’.

The colleague often known as Ms A who works at a hospital in Ipswich, Suffolk, subsequently researched Kochar on Google and found he had been made topic of office situations.

She initially knowledgeable a guide surgeon she would by no means work with Kochar once more – however she made a proper grievance in October 2021 when she noticed a brand new rota had paired them up.

Dr Kochar (pictured), from Timperley, Greater Manchester, has beforehand been accused of sexually assaulting three ladies

In 2020 Kochar was on trial for allegations that he sexually assaulted three feminine sufferers when he was working at Manchester Royal Infirmary however was cleared by a jury of six sexual assault fees after claiming his remedy of them was ‘fully faultless.’

Earlier this yr he was accused of urgent and rubbing his aroused genitalia towards a fourth affected person while analyzing her at a hospital in Edinburgh in 2008 however he was cleared of wrongdoing after claiming she had made the allegation as she was ‘offended’ at him lowering her pethadine treatment.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, the married man, of Hale, close to Altrincham, Greater Manchester was discovered responsible of sexual motivated misconduct in the direction of Ms A and he was suspended from medical practise for six months.

He will face a return-to-work assessment subsequent yr after the panel rejected calls from the General Medical Council to strike him off – figuring out there was a ‘low threat’ of him repeating his behaviour.

The Manchester listening to was instructed the most recent incident occurred in July 2021 when Kochar was working for the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust.

Dr Narendra Kochar, a married man, was discovered responsible of sexual motivated misconduct in the direction of Ms A and he was suspended

Ms A was serving to him perform colonoscopies on numerous sufferers when Kochar all of the sudden whispered in her ear and manoeuvred his left hand beneath her proper elbow touching her proper breast. 

He then touched Ms A’s proper breast once more after eradicating his hand from a affected person’s stomach earlier than repeating the manoevre.

In a press release the girl stated: ‘At first I assumed he was speaking in regards to the affected person’s bowel as he was performing the process however as he stated the feedback a few extra occasions in the course of the day I knew he was speaking to me.’

She added: ‘With his left hand he got here beneath my proper elbow touching my proper breast after which moved his hand right down to the affected person’s stomach. 

‘When he eliminated his hand he once more grazed my proper breast as he pulled away. Again I assumed perhaps it was a mistake and it might have occurred accidentally and that Dr Kochar had not seen that he touched my breast.

The Manchester listening to was instructed the most recent incident occurred in July 2021 when Kochar was working for the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust

‘I positioned myself on an angle in order that he might keep away from my breast, however he used his left hand to go beneath my proper elbow and touched my proper breast as he moved down my arm to the affected person’s stomach. 

‘He additionally touched my proper breast when he moved his hand again to hold on the colonoscopy. I knew that bearing on my breast for a second time was not an accident and each occasions had been on objective.’

Kochar who has since attended a ‘Maintaining Professionalism’ course denied wrongdoing and instructed the listening to he could have been speaking to himself, or commenting on the gear he was utilizing. He instructed any bodily contact he could have had with Ms A would have been unintended.

In a press release Kochar stated: ‘I firmly deny that any of my interactions with Ms A had been sexually motivated. I’m nonetheless sorry if something I stated or did made her really feel uncomfortable, or gave her the improper impression.

‘Since the occasions in query, I’ve mirrored on how my very own behaviour may need led to Ms A misinterpreting occasions, and I’ve made some extent of being extra cautious to make sure that private and bodily boundaries are revered when I’m at work.’

In 2020 Kochar was on trial for allegations that he sexually assaulted three feminine sufferers when he was working at Manchester Royal Infirmary (pictured)

But Miss Laura Barbour counsel for the GMC stated: ‘Dr Kochar, in a place of business, engaged in sexual touching of a hard-working colleague. He sought to disguise the sexually motivated touching of a colleague’s breast beneath the quilt of a reputable scientific demonstration as a part of his work and this makes his conduct worse.

‘The sexual touching of a colleague while a affected person is mid process is so egregious that public confidence within the career would absolutely be broken if a discovering of impairment was not made.

‘Sexual misconduct isn’t simply remediated and there’s no proof that Dr Kochar has, in truth, remediated. There isn’t any proof Dr Kochar has genuinely mirrored on his failures or his actions or that he has developed real perception.

Kochar’s counsel Mr Anthony Haycroft stated the incident was on the ‘decrease finish of the spectrum’ and any contact was ‘fleeting over garments with the again of a gloved hand, taking seconds solely and amounting to a single remoted incident.’

He added: ‘The conduct discovered proved was spontaneous and carried out beneath the stress of working beneath the Covid situations. It was an opportunistic touching, no extra, no much less. Testimonials submitted, proof no character flaw or propensity for such misconduct on the a part of Dr Kochar. It can be improper to equate the denial of an allegation with lack of perception. In reality Dr Kochar had apologised to Ms A.’

MPTS chairman Ms Angela Georgiou stated: ‘The many testimonials the tribunal acquired from mates and colleagues of Dr Kochar spoke in glowing phrases of a extremely revered, wellregarded and excellent clinician and colleague.

‘Many spoke of their disbelief concerning the allegations Dr Kochar was dealing with and acccordingly the Tribunal thought of there to be a low threat of repetition on this case.

‘The Tribunal acknowledged Dr Kochar is a extremely valued member of his workforce and his sufferers profit from his expertise. Erasing Dr Kochar from the register would deprive the general public of an in any other case glorious physician.’