Barnsley surgeon wins appeal over 'sexual behaviour' tribunal

Muhammad Khan worked at Barnsley Hospital and the judge upheld his appeal

A consultant found to have acted in an "inappropriate and sexually motivated" way towards female hospital staff by a tribunal has won an appeal.

Muhammad Khan, an orthopaedic surgeon at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, denied the claims and asked a High Court judge to consider the case.

Mr Justice Julian Knowles, who oversaw the hearing in November, upheld the appeal.

He said the allegations against Mr Khan "had never taken place".

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The General Medical Council had brought proceedings against the surgeon at a Medical Practitioners' Tribunal last year.

It concluded Mr Khan had behaved inappropriately with three women and that his fitness to practise was impaired.

It found he should be removed from the medical register but the judge said the "sanction of erasure" should be quashed.

According to the judge, the tribunal had adopted a "fundamentally erroneous methodology" when approaching the evidence of one complainant.

Evidence from a second complainant was accepted by the tribunal "based impermissibly on her demeanour", the judge said.

The third complainant was deemed "credible" before evidence relating to her allegations and evidence which "tended to undermine her credibility" was considered.

Mr Khan maintained "none of the alleged incidents had ever happened, at least as described by the three complainants".

The judge added: "His case, in summary, was that apart from that one episode of innocent physical contact, which had not been sexually motivated and which (one woman) had exaggerated and embellished, the allegations against him were completely untrue and had never taken place."

Mr Khan had been found "guilty of gross misconduct" and summarily dismissed by the trust in 2014.

The judge said he had subsequently taken successful employment tribunal proceedings, after alleging unfair and wrongful dismissal.

Trust officials had concluded that his reinstatement would not be practicable.

Mr Khan had also been charged with sexually touching one of the women, but was acquitted after a trial in 2016, the judge said.