Top coronary heart surgeon struck off for sexually harassing colleague
A top heart surgeon who carried out lifesaving operations on children has been struck off for sexually harassing and groping a colleague.
Fabrizio De Rita grabbed a member of staff’s breast ‘on top of her scrubs and bra’ in what could amount to a criminal sexual assault, a disciplinary hearing panel concluded.
He was accused of sexually harassing the woman over an eight-month period and is now banned from working in the UK as a doctor after the misconduct case was proved against him.
Mr De Rita was a consultant paediatric surgeon at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, where he carried out lifesaving surgery and heart transplants on critically ill infants.
He has been found culpable of serious professional misconduct, sexually harassing a colleague and abusing a position of seniority by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel.
Chair Debi Gould said his ‘failure to respect the dignity of another colleague’ amounted to ‘sexual harassment.’
The allegations related to a period between May 2022 and January 2023.
Heart surgeon Fabrizio De Rita (pictured) has been struck off for groping and sexually harassing a colleague
A disciplinary hearing panel concluded Fabrizio De Rita grabbed a member of staff’s breast ‘on top of her scrubs and bra’ in what could amount to a criminal sexual assault
They included that Mr De Rita made inappropriate gestures towards the colleague before telling her she was ‘going red’, that he pulled her chair towards him in a meeting room, despite her moving it away from him, that he sent her WhatsApp messages, ‘pinged her bra strap’ and grabbed her left breast.
This behaviour was described as sexually motivated and an abuse of his position as a senior surgeon in the prestigious cardiothoracic department.
The tribunal panel found the allegations proven with the exception of one of the alleged inappropriate gestures and the sending of messages. It was also found that moving the chair was not proven to be sexually motivated.
Mr De Rita, who worked at the hospital for more than 10 years, was suspended by the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust the day after a complaint was made.
In deciding the surgeon was not fit to practise medicine in the UK, the tribunal chair Miss Gould said his ‘conduct was fundamentally incompatible with his continued registration.’
A file image of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service
The panel decided being struck off was ‘the only necessary, appropriate, and proportionate sanction that it could impose given the seriousness of the misconduct, the lack of insight and remediation shown and the high risk of repetition that remained.’
Commenting: ‘The Tribunal considered it to be an aggravating factor that the misconduct involved sexual misconduct towards a colleague and an abuse by Mr De Rita of his more senior position.
‘The Tribunal noted that professional colleagues have the right to expect that they will be treated with dignity at work. Mr De Rita was in a more senior role, should have led by example, was an experienced and long serving doctor and should have known better.’
A damning Care Quality Commission inspection report in January found a ‘long-standing history of concerns about the culture’ in the cardiothoracic department. The CQC inspectors raised issues including sexism, bullying and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
After Mr De Rita’s was struck off a spokesman for the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘All of our staff have the right to feel safe and supported at work and we have a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted, inappropriate or harmful sexual behaviours towards staff.
‘As a signatory of NHS England’s Sexual Safety in Healthcare organisational charter, we have committed to take appropriate action in all cases regardless of the seniority or role of the perpetrator.’
Mr De Rita is originally from Italy where he trained. The tribunal decision does not stop Mr De Rita working abroad, although international medical regulator will be informed of the decision.
