A “sleazy” London doctor who “tickled” and persistently sent sexually suggestive and “intimate” messages to junior members of staff has been struck off.
Consultant Dr Ganesh Arunachalam, a registrar at Guys and St Thomas’ and Queen Elizabeth hospitals was accused using the “power imbalance” of his seniority to “harass” trainee female doctors.
He bombarded one woman with more than 60 text and WhatsApp messages to her personal number and repeatedly hugged and kissed another, who described how he made her “skin scrawl”.
A medical panel ruled he could no longer practise in the UK after deeming him “unfit” to work as a doctor at a hearing on Tuesday.
The initial complaint against 46-year-old Dr Arunachalam was made by “Dr A”, who worked with him from February 2014 during a six-month placement at Guys and St Thomas’ Trust.
She told the panel how he refused to stop messaging her on her personal phone, despite her pleas for him to stop.
In one suggestive message, he used the apple emoji as code for her and wrote how much he was missing and wanting the “sweetest apple”.
Dr A complained after his actions “made her feel scared for her personal safety” but Dr Arunachalam responded by accusing her of being “flirtatious, infatuated, and jealous”.
Dr B, a trainee at the acute unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital met Dr Arunachalam in November 2014 and worked with him for a handful of shifts.
During her second shift Dr Arunachalam crept up behind her and “touched and tickled her” as she sat making medical notes.
On a separate occasion he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the head, saying: “I love working with you”.
She reported him after he blocked her way in a corridor and forced her to hug him before hounding her with requests to meet up.
But when she logged a complaint, he accused her of being an “awful doctor” and criticised her “inappropriate” behaviour towards patients.
The panel announced in the hearing papers: “Your unwelcome attention was intrusive. Dr A and Dr B were junior trainees both embarking on their medical careers. In contrast you were an experienced registrar.
“In the tribunals view there was a power imbalance which you took advantage of.”
Speaking on behalf of the General Medical Council, Sharon Beattie said: “This was inappropriate behaviour towards two female colleagues which involved sexual harassment and which was sexually motivated.
"The incidents left both victims going to work in what they must have felt was a hostile environment, which is damaging to patient care.”
The panel concluded his “fitness to practise” was “impaired” by his “sexually motivated” behaviour.
A spokesman for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said: “The doctor in question worked for a brief period at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in late 2014 via an agency.
"The incident referred to in the GMC case occurred in late November 2014 and he was not subsequently booked for further shifts
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