A doctor who sexually touched two young female colleagues and sent them flirtatious messages has been struck off the medical register.
Dr Velmurugan Kuppuswamy was working as a locum consultant cardiologist at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, when he “objectified” the women, told one she was a “bad girl” and squeezed her waist.
A Tribunal of Medical Doctors found a pattern of behavior and concluded that his actions were “sexually motivated” and created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”.
Hywel Dda health board said it was “committed to providing a safe and supportive environment” for patients and staff.
Between August and October 2021, Kuppuswamy, known as Dr Vel, sexually harassed two colleagues – known as Dr A and Dr B – and abused his position.
The tribunal’s decision report said he sent inappropriate messages to Dr A which were “overly familiar” and “flirtatious”.
While attending a party in a communal space of the hospital’s staff housing in September 2021, he hugged her, touched her back, and squeezed her waist.
The panel heard how he grabbed her and squeezed her wrist, pulled her towards him, smiled and winked at her, and told her she was a “bad girl” in response to her comment about smoking being bad for health.
In a witness statement given to the General Medical Council (GMC), she said she “felt exposed” and his actions “felt so bad”.
And in a statement to the police, she said that she tried to pull him and told him that he was hurting her.
Despite a police investigation, no charges were brought.
At the same event, he told Dr B to “keep doing that sexy dance for me”, put his hand on her thigh, and squeezed near her groin area.
During the party, Kuppuswamy followed a group of female colleagues when they moved to a different area and watched them while they were dancing.
He also told the two women that they should use their breasts as paddles while he was playing a ping pong game against them at the party.
In a witness statement, Dr. A said that she was one of the first people that Kuppuswamy hugged when he arrived at the party, and added that he “turned towards me and put out his arms, aimed at my waist, and hugged me”.
“I wasn’t pushing a counselor away and I didn’t have a choice in how I responded. I was just standing there and didn’t have my arms outstretched to him,” she said.
“His hands were on my waist and squeezed. Dr. Vel’s hands were spread over my lower back, flat to my back, quite low and I felt uncomfortable.
“I noticed that with every woman he greeted, he would go specifically to hug their waist, and leave his hand on the smallest part of their waist”.
Lee Fish, who represented the General Medical Council at the hearing, told the panel that Kuppuswamy’s name had previously been struck off the medical register in January 2012 after “findings of dishonesty were made” against him.
He told the tribunal that Kuppuswamy successfully applied to be restored to the register in November 2020 – less than a year before the sexual harassment at Wybush took place.
“His behavior, which involved multiple instances of unwanted physical touching, was sexually motivated,” concluded the tribunal.
‘Treat them like sex objects’
During the proceedings, Kuppuswamy claimed that the allegations against him were a result of his “whistleblowing”, linked to performance concerns he raised in relation to another doctor at the hospital.
He said that Dr A and Dr B were “formulating” events to target him and that Dr B was an unreliable witness due to a previous traumatic experience.
But the panel did not accept that the evidence it presented was consistent with these claims.
Kuppuswamy was also “reluctant to accept that there was a power differential between him and Dr A as he was only a locum consultant”.
But, in his evidence, he referred to the two colleagues as “girls” several times and the tribunal was “satisfied that Dr A was a junior colleague and that there was a power imbalance”.
The report added: “The tribunal considered that calling a junior colleague ‘a perfect sweetheart’ and asking her to dance with him was in itself inappropriate due to their lack of personal relationship and due to the pressure the imbalance of power was likely.”
The panel acknowledged that the feedback provided on behalf of Kuppuswamy “was generally very positive” and “showed that he is another good doctor who is clinically competent and respected by his colleagues and patients”.
“However, due to the nature of the case and the serious findings against him, testimonies about his clinical practice … were insufficient to show knowledge or redress in relation to his sexually motivated misconduct,” the report said.
An apology letter written by Kuppuswamy was also submitted to the tribunal, “however, this letter… did not accept any blame but rather apologized if anyone had ‘misinterpreted’ his actions or intentions as inappropriate or overly familiar”.
Kuppuswamy has been struck off the register which he can apply to be restored to within five years.
He was also suspended to cover the 28th day from January 28th – the time he has to appeal the decision.
The tribunal considered that Kuppuswamy had “failed to act with integrity” and “was satisfied [his] the behavior represented a significant breach of professional boundaries and had clearly fallen below expected standards’.
He said Kuppuswamy “treated Dr A and Dr B like sex objects that could be used for his own sexual gratification” and concluded that his conduct “so far fell short of the standards of conduct reasonably expected of a doctor amounting to serious misconduct”.
“The public should be able to trust doctors to conduct themselves with integrity, including at work, and otherwise interact appropriately with junior colleagues and medical students,” she said.
The health board’s medical director, Mark Henwood, said it was not policy to comment on current or former staff, but added: “We have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety of both staff and patients in our care and we take our responsibility for their wellbeing very seriously.
“We are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times.”