Former doctor at Hull Royal Infirmary struck off for ‘sexual harassment’

A former doctor working at Hull Royal Infirmary has been struck off for misconduct after a tribunal found he had kissed and inappropriately touched female colleagues.

Dr Vikram Gangaiah Aarella’s repeated and unwanted sexual behaviour towards two female doctors at the hospital in October 2022 was laid bare in a 61-page document following his erasure by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) last month. He will not be able to work as a doctor in the UK again.

Among the complaints levelled at Dr Aarella by female doctors in Hull was his alleged “brushing” against breasts while walking or reaching for papers and door handles. He was also accused of touching another female doctor on her stomach and back.

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Dr Aarella, who qualified as a doctor in 1999 in Bangalore, India, was not present at the hearing which took place between March 25 and April 23 this year. In a letter to the MPTS, Dr Aarella said he was “devastated” by the allegations, which he denied, but could not afford legal representation.

He was previously suspended from the General Medical Council (GMC) for 10 months in September 2022 (to come into effect 28 days later) for his behaviour towards three female doctors in Nottinghamshire between 2013 and 2015. In 2020, Dr Aarella was made the subject of a five-year restraining order in relation to one of the doctors at Nottingham Crown Court.

While working at Hull Royal Infirmary shortly before his previous suspension came into effect, Dr Aarella would try to spend as much time with a worker, referred to as Dr A, as possible, the tribunal heard. He also asked questions about her personal life and allegedly told her not to marry a man of a certain race.

In a witness statement, Dr A said: “He said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t marry a [redacted] man. They are the worst type of men. They treat women badly, are gross and creepy. They are oppressive’. I said, ‘All races have bad men.'”

Another doctor, Dr B, said in a witness statement that Dr Aarella kept putting his hands on her when they were working together. At the time, she decided to confront him if they ever worked together again rather than reporting it.

She stated: “We weren’t working together all day but it seemed that any time I was with Dr Aarella, he would make an attempt to place his hands on my upper back.

“His hands just rested on my upper back and shoulder area and they were brief touches lasting no more than a few seconds at a time. Dr Aarella didn’t say anything to me whilst he was doing this.”

She also claimed he touched her stomach and said: “As he stood up to leave, I was facing him and he came close to me and brushed the palm of his left hand against my stomach.

“Dr Aarella didn’t say anything to me whilst he did this and I didn’t respond but after this, I thought to myself, ‘If I ever work with this man again, I’m going to say something’. That’s when I thought, this is not an accident and it’s making me feel really uncomfortable.”

In a statement to another doctor, Dr A reported Dr Aarella touching her breasts while they walked alongside each other in a way that made it appear accidental. But the tribunal said the “repeated touching in the corridor was a clear escalation of Dr Aarella’s earlier behaviour, which could not be misinterpreted as accidental touching”.

Dr A stated: “Whilst we were walking in the corridors he would change his pace and he wasn’t walking in a straight line so his hands would bump into my thighs and my breast multiple times and if he wanted to move past me he would touch my waist to get past. This made me feel very uncomfortable but I was making excuses and tried to convince myself that it was an accident.”

The tribunal said the breast is an “intimate area” and touching it is “inherently sexual in nature.” Dr A also said Dr Aarella kissed her on the cheek in a hospital car park.

She stated: “Dr Aarella was standing in front of his car and he said, ‘Dr A, give me a hug’ and held both his arms out fully open. I didn’t know what to do but I looked at him thinking, ‘Why do you want me to hug you?’

“He repeated it again, ‘Dr A, give me a hug’. I thought that if I give him a hug, I can leave and go home so I stepped towards him and he just put both arms around me between my shoulders and waist. I didn’t hug him back.

“I just stood there and started to move back as it felt so strange and uncomfortable. I just wanted to get away from him when Dr Aarella kissed me on the cheek. I froze.”

In a letter to the MPTS in January, Dr Aarella said he was in difficult financial circumstances and was not willing to attend the tribunal without legal representation. He said: “I had applied for Pro Bono representation and unfortunately due to the duration of the hearing they refused my application, they would only consider if the hearing was two or three days.

“I do not think I can attend the hearing without representation, I have been under a lot of stress and am really devastated by these new allegations which I have denied.”

The Tribunal found Dr Aarella’s behaviour towards Dr A amounted to sexual harassment and his behaviour towards Dr B was “unacceptable in the workplace” but fell short of sexual harassment. He was erased from the GMC and found to be impaired by reason of misconduct.

A spokesperson for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We take all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and would like to reassure staff that anyone raising concerns will be fully supported through the process.

“Mr Aarella has not worked for our trust in any capacity since 2022 when we became aware of the allegations regarding our staff.”