A doctor who sexually touched two junior 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, telling one she was a “bad girl” and squeezing her waist.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found a pattern of behavior and concluded his conduct was “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 (also known as Dr. Vel) sexually harassed two colleagues (named Dr. A and Dr. B) and abused his power.
The tribunal’s decision reported that he sent Dr A inappropriate messages that were “overly familiar” and “flirtatious”.
In September 2021, while attending a party in the public space of the hospital staff dormitory, he hugged her, touched her back and squeezed her waist.
The jury heard how he grabbed and squeezed her wrists, pulled her towards him, smirked and winked at her and told her she was a “bad girl” in response to comments she made to him about the harmful effects of smoking on her health.
In a witness statement to the General Medical Council (GMC), she said she “felt exposed” and his actions “felt very wrong”.
In a statement to police, she said she tried to get away from him and told him he had hurt her.
Despite a police investigation, no charges were laid.
At the same event, he told Dr. B to “keep doing that sexy dance for me” and placed his hands on her thighs and squeezed her groin area.
During the party, Kuppuswamy followed a group of female colleagues to another area and stared at them as they danced.
He also told the two women they should use their breasts as paddles when he played table tennis with them at the party.
In an eyewitness statement, Dr A said she was one of the first people Kuppuswamy hugged when he arrived at the party, adding that he “came up to me, stretched out his arms, aimed at my waist and surrounded me”.
“I didn’t push the counselor away, and I didn’t choose how to respond. I just stood there and didn’t extend my arms to him,” she said.
“His hands were on my waist and he squeezed. Dr. Weir’s hands were folded across my back, flat on my back, so low that I felt uncomfortable.
“I noticed that every time he greeted a woman, he would go out of his way to hug their waist and put his hands on the thinnest part of their waist.”
Lee Fish, who appeared at the hearing on behalf of the General Medical Council, told the panel that Kuppuswamy’s name had previously been removed from the medical register in January 2012 because “dishonest conduct against him had been discovered”.
He told the court that Kuppuswamy successfully applied to have the roster reinstated in November 2020, less than a year after the sexual harassment incident at Withybush.
The court concluded: “His conduct, which involved multiple instances of unwanted physical contact, was sexually motivated.”
“Treat them as sex objects”
Throughout the proceedings, Kuppuswamy claimed that the charges against him were the result of his “whistle-blowing” related to performance concerns he raised about another doctor at the hospital.
He said Drs A and B were “fabricating” the incident against him and that Dr B was an unreliable witness due to previous traumatic experiences.
But the panel was not satisfied that his evidence was consistent with those claims.
Kuppuswamy was also “unwilling to accept that there was a power differential between himself and Dr A, as he was only a temporary consultant”.
However, in his evidence he repeatedly referred to two colleagues as “girls” and the tribunal was “satisfied that Dr A was a junior colleague and that there was a power imbalance”.
The report added: “The tribunal found that calling a junior colleague a ‘perfect sweetheart’ and asking her to dance with him was inappropriate in itself, given their lack of personal relationship and the potential for an imbalance of power due to pressure.”
The panel acknowledged that feedback provided on behalf of Kuppuswamy was “generally very positive” and “suggests that he is a good doctor who is otherwise clinically competent and respected by colleagues and patients”.
“However, given the nature of the case and the serious findings against him, the testimony regarding his clinical practice … was insufficient to establish his insight into or remediation of sexually motivated misconduct,” the report said.
A letter of apology written by Kuppuswamy was also tendered to the court, “However, this letter… does not accept any fault but rather apologizes for anyone ‘misunderstanding’ his actions or intentions as inappropriate or overly familiar”.
Kuppuswamy has been struck off the rolls and he can apply for reinstatement within five years.
He was also suspended for 28 days from January 28, a decision he must appeal.
The tribunal found that Kuppuswamy “failed to act in good faith” and was “unfaithful to [his] The conduct was a serious breach of professional boundaries and clearly fell below expected standards.”
The report said Kuppuswamy “viewed Doctors A and B as sexual objects that could be used for his own sexual gratification” and concluded that his behavior fell “well below the standard of conduct reasonably expected of a physician and constituted gross misconduct”.
“The public should be able to trust that doctors will act with integrity, both in their work and in their appropriate interactions with junior colleagues and medical students,” the report 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 strong policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety of staff and patients in our care and we take our responsibility for their welfare seriously.
“We are committed to providing a safe, supportive environment where patients and staff can feel confident that we are always following best practice.”
