A tribunal has determined that a doctor who allegedly said that Hammersmith would be better if it were “Jew free” is not racist.
Consultant Gynaecologist Dr Dimitrios Psaroudakis has been suspended for three months following a disciplinary hearing by the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (MPTS), which hears disciplinary cases for the General Medical Council (GMC).
He also allegedly made repeated references to Jews as “yews” (because of his accent) and used this as “shorthand”, called his Jewish colleagues “big nose”, “leprechaun”, “alky” and “s*** for brains”, and referred to the clinic as a “temple”.
The tribunal also found that he had made “sexist” and “sexually explicit” comments and had even joked about a patient’s deceased partner, who had died a week prior.
The GMC sought only a suspension, and the MPTS concluded that it “makes no finding that he is a racist but is satisfied that he is someone who is quite comfortable with using discriminatory language”.
The tribunal concluded: “It was Dr Psaroudakis’ common practice to pick out and use what could be considered offensive or derogatory characteristics about people whom he did not like.”
“Rather than use someone’s name or work title, Dr Psaroudakis preferred to make unpleasant and unacceptable references to protected characteristics of colleagues. The tribunal makes no finding that Dr Psaroudakis is a racist but is satisfied that he is someone who is quite comfortable with using discriminatory language,” it determined.
Dr Psaroudakis will be eligible to work again in April.
We will be appealing this abysmal miscarriage of justice to the Professional Standards Authority.
