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CBS Statement on James Gilbert’s Eligibility to Return to Practice Following Sexual Harassment Suspension

29 September 2025

Oxford transplant surgeon James Gilbert is eligible to return to work this month after serving only a one-year suspension — an MPTS sanction for sexually harassing female colleagues over a period of 13 years. This was despite a GMC recommendation of erasure, and a ruling by the MPTS themselves that his behaviour was ‘sexually motivated’ and an ‘abuse’ of power^[1], His case echoes the concerning findings of research by Mei Nortley et al.,^[2] which found 23.9% of sanctions involving sexual misconduct were more lenient than GMC recommendations, and just 35% resulted in full erasure. The study also found that 80% of perpetrators in sexual misconduct cases held senior/authority roles, and several showed repeated, systemic abuse.

These are sobering statistics, representative of a boys’ club culture — all perpetrators in the study were male — of widespread harassment, and the subsequent lenient ‘punishments’ for what amounts to criminal conduct. Sadly, this reflects statistics in wider society; many sexual assaults, rapes, and harassments go unreported, largely because of the minimal likelihood of being believed, and of a meaningful or just outcome.^[3] As such, it is unlikely that we will ever know the full extent of Gilbert’s abuse of women.

Gilbert’s case is sadly just one of many. We know that abuse and harassment run deep in positions of power in the NHS. In fact, late last year, we wrote a blog about (the now-defunct) NHS England’s implementation of an anonymous reporting system, and how we wholeheartedly support any initiative that makes the working environment a safer and more supportive place.^[4] However, we know and have seen that this is not enough. CBS supports calls from RCS England and the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct in Surgery for a national, independent reporting system, manned by objective investigators.^[5] On a more local level, any report of sexual harassment must automatically trigger a clear protocol that guarantees immediate safeguarding for the reporter, access to the hospital’s psychologist, and an independent investigation. Furthermore, the discrepancies that lead to the MPTS’s repeated woefully inadequate sanctions show the urgent need for a reform of the decision-making process.

CBS co-opted member and consultant plastic surgeon Philippa Jackson says:

“The leniency shown by the MPTS in cases such as Gilbert’s is frankly unforgivable. How the tribunal panel can consider him fit to return to practice is beyond comprehensible. Gilbert is a transplant surgeon who literally holds life in his hands, yet during operations he chose to sexually harass colleagues instead of giving his full attention to patients. Transplant surgery is an absolute privilege founded on an extraordinary sacrifice made by donors and their families, and to allow someone who has disregarded this and systematically abused his colleagues to step back into his role with such ease erodes public trust at its very core.”

CBS offers support to its members in the form of the Surgical Advisory Service (SAS). This service provides surgeons, anaesthetists, and the entire surgical team a safe and confidential space in which they can access support and advice around workplace issues, such as sexual harassment.

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