Judge orders new hearing for GP cleared of sexually motivated examination

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By Erin Dean

The High Court has quashed a medical tribunal’s findings that a GP’s examination of a patient was clinically indicated and not sexually motivated.

Dr Chitlapalli Sathyanath will face a new tribunal after the General Medical Council appealed against the previous conclusions of a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel.

The GP partner, who worked in Gosport, Hampshire, examined the 53-year-old woman, known as Patient A, at an appointment in September 2022.

The patient had previously had breast cancer and had had three years of persistent abdominal pain.

The tribunal in June 2025 concluded that the doctor placed his hand inside the patient’s underwear and brushed her pubic bone region during an intimate examination.

It also found that Sathyanath, who also had experience in oncology, did not offer the patient the option of having a chaperone present or obtain sufficient consent, including explaining why the examination was needed.

However, the MPTS panel decided that the examination – which the GP said was checking the inguinal groin area – was clinically indicated and not sexually motivated.