GP Sanjay Chatterjee Struck Off After Inappropriate Medical Examination Leaves Patient in Tears

A family GP who previously walked free from court after groping a receptionist has been struck off after leaving a female patient in tears over an 'inappropriate' medical examination. Dr Sanjay Chatterjee, 60, was initially convicted of sexually assaulting the receptionist in 2011 and given a suspended prison sentence. Despite this, he kept his job and continued to practice medicine.

However, he was reported to police and the General Medical Council again after inserting a medical implement inside a woman's vagina without her consent while examining her for suspected haemorrhoids. The patient was left in shock and burst into tears as she told her family about the consultation and subsequently called police to claim she had been sexually assaulted.

Inquiries revealed that Chatterjee, who lives in Larkfield near Aylesford, Kent, had ignored police restrictions on his movements under the terms of the Sex Offender Register by repeatedly flying abroad using a new passport. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found him guilty of serious professional misconduct and ordered his name to be erased from the doctor's register.

A panel said Chatterjee's examination was 'inappropriate and not clinically indicated', but cleared him of sexually motivated conduct. No criminal action was taken against him over the examination.

Chatterjee had been initially reported to police in 2010 after a receptionist at a clinic in Medway and a second woman made complaints about him. The receptionist said she was working a Saturday shift when Chatterjee grabbed her buttock while she was sitting at her computer. Later, while looking for medication, he stood uncomfortably close behind her and attempted to kiss her.

At Maidstone Crown Court in 2011, Chatterjee was convicted of sexually assaulting the receptionist and given 250 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for five years.

He was cleared of seven sex charges involving the second woman after he insisted they were having an affair.

The latest incident occurred at the Aylesford Medical Centre in May 2021 when a female patient known as Ms A was admitted for ulcerative colitis and rectal bleeding. She said Dr Chatterjee asked her to get on the examination couch before he picked up a speculum and squeezed lubricant gel on it. Recalling the examination Ms A said: 'He never went into detail about any of what he was going to do - he just kind of got on with it. I went a little bit tense as it was a little bit sore.  'He put it in had a look around and said: 'I can't see anything in there, maybe they're further up.'  I thought 'Oh that's it now' but in the next second he just put it straight into my vagina with no warning, no explanation, nothing.

A student nurse who witnessed the examination said: 'I remember Dr Chatterjee's communication was really poor.  'He didn't have an introduction with her at the start of the appointment, he didn't say hello, ask how she was, invite her to take a seat or explain what was going to happen in the appointment. He just said: 'OK get undressed.' An expert assigned to investigate the incident later said: 'I can see no reason why a vaginal examination was clinically indicated or appropriate, given the presenting symptoms were bowel related and seemed to have nothing to do with her vagina.'

Chatterjee did not attend the hearing but in a statement said he had no intention of returning to medical practice. He added: 'I accept that I carried out the rectal examination of the patient. A chaperone was present. If there was any contact with the patient's vagina then this was unintentional.' MPTS chairman Mr Graham White said: ' Dr Chatterjee's failure to obtain Patient A's informed consent caused her emotional harm, leaving her in shock and distress and feeling as if she had been violated. Both Patient A's daughter and friend described her as being distressed and in tears when she discussed what had happened to her.