'My sex offender physio should have been stopped'

Sarah Johnson says she wakes up crying in the night with PTSD following the assaults

A woman who was sexually assaulted by her physiotherapist has said he should have been stopped from practising earlier to prevent him abusing more patients.

Sarah Johnson, 42, from Meopham in Kent, who has waived her right to anonymity, is calling for immediate suspension of practitioners under investigation for alleged sexual offences.

In June 2024, Purnoor Bawa, from Gravesend, was jailed for six years for touching six women inappropriately during treatment sessions between 2013 and 2019.

The governing body, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), said it had processes in place to restrict or suspend a registrant's practice ahead of a full hearing, to help protect the public.

Physiotherapist Purnoor Bawa was found guilty of the assaults and jailed for six years in 2024

Before Mrs Johnson was assaulted by him, Bawa assaulted two other women at NHS clinics in Kent, both in 2013.

One assault happened at Folkestone Health Centre and the other at Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital.

The Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT), which runs both sites, said it was "deeply concerned about complaints relating to this individual who was employed by our organisation".

It said it was made aware of one of the assaults at the time, which had also been reported to the police, and "immediately took steps to investigate and protect patients".

It said it was not made aware of the second allegation by a different victim.

'I wake up crying'

Bawa's contract was ended with the NHS in April 2016.

A few months' later, he assaulted Mrs Johnson on two separate occasions when she was one of his patients.

She had been referred to his private physiotherapy clinic in Gravesend by her insurance company, after sustaining a hip injury in a car crash.

He asked her both times to remove her top and massaged her breasts.

She believes she was targeted by him because of her mental health issues, which at the time included clinical depression and Tourettes.

Mrs Johnson said she felt people would not take her allegation seriously because of her mental health issues, and that is why he chose to assault her.

She has since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

She said: "I have nightmares, I wake up crying, I can't go into certain spaces in Gravesend, and I can't see the street name without being sick, I struggle enormously."

Sarah believes more could have been done to protect other women from being assaulted

Mrs Johnson reported Bawa to Kent Police who arrested him and informed the HCPC in January 2017.

In March, the police investigation concluded with no charge being brought.

Six months later, the HCPC then imposed an Interim Conditions of Practice Order, which meant he could not treat female patients without an HCPC-registered physiotherapist as a chaperone.

His wife at the time, Monika Bawa, then a registered physiotherapist, acted as his chaperone from this point in his private clinic, which was agreed by the Interim Orders Investigating Committee.

Following a review in February 2018, the committee decided the chaperone must not be related to him.

In December 2018, Bawa was arrested for a second time by Kent Police who visited his place of work following a report he carried out an inappropriate massage on a woman during treatment for an ankle injury.

During this time his appointments should have been chaperoned but this one was not.

A month later, Bawa was given an Interim Suspension Order, meaning he was unable to practise as a physiotherapist until a final hearing.

For the next 10 months, he continued to practise and sexually assaulted two more women, even though he had been suspended and was not allowed to work as a physio.

In October 2019, a patient raised concerns with the HCPC about Bawa and in November he was struck off the register.

'Strength in numbers'

Mrs Johnson believes the timeline of events raises questions over how he continued to work and commit crimes, despite the ban.

She said: "People in a position of authority and power have even more of a responsibility to not hurt others. It makes me feel angry.

"He was allowed to practise with a chaperone or otherwise for too long. It took too long to be dealt with which meant there were other women at risk."

When assaulting his patients, by touching areas of their bodies that did not require treatments, Bawa would insist it was common practice and part of their recovery.

By April 2023, five women had come forward and Kent Police had sufficient evidence to charge him.

A press release detailing the charges prompted one more victim to come forward to report offences.

In court last year, he was convicted of eight counts of sexual assault against six different women between 2013 and 2019.

Kent Police said the courage of each victim and their "strength in numbers" were able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Bawa had assaulted them.

His wife, Monika Bawa, was struck off the register in 2022 for allowing her husband to continue working for the practice despite knowing he was temporarily suspended from practising as a physio.

The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service concluded she was dishonest and her behaviour would be regarded as "deplorable" by fellow practitioners and her actions amounted to misconduct.

The BBC has tried to contact Mrs Bawa but has not had a response.

The HCPC said last year it began a programme to help improve the sexual safety of service users and those working within health and social care.

This included an online Sexual Safety Hub to explain the standards expected of registrants and where to seek help and support if people had experienced or witnessed these behaviours.

In a statement, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service, said: "The HCPC takes all fitness to practice concerns reported to us very seriously.

"When a concern is raised, we have processes in place to restrict or suspend a registrant's practice, ahead of a full hearing, to help protect the public.

"Where breaches of these conditions are reported to us, an independent panel reviews the interim order, and will take any action designed to protect the public."

KCHFT said: "We have a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct and we have reviewed our safeguarding policies, which are designed to protect both patients and colleagues."

The trust said it had also introduced mandatory sexual safety training for all staff.

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