Third of sexual misconduct allegations against doctors at tribunals from colleagues

Getty/sudok1

By Erin Dean

More than a third of sexual misconduct allegations brought against doctors at tribunals last year involved actions towards their colleagues, data has revealed.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) has published details of 270 allegations against doctors heard in tribunals last year and of these, 48 were allegations of sexual misconduct.

A total of 18 (38%) of the allegations of sexual misconduct were made by colleagues, and 17 (35%) were made by patients.

Judge Fiona Monk, MPTS chair, said the findings were “deeply concerning” for those in healthcare and that staff should be free to do their jobs without being a “target” of sexual misconduct.

The MPTS has published data from the 160 tribunals held in 2025, with allegations broken down into nine categories.

Dishonesty allegations were the most prevalent type of allegation brought before tribunals, accounting for 27% of cases in 2025. Sexual misconduct was the second most common allegation type recorded, at 18%.