Dr Konathala denied the allegations and the Met Police took no further action, but the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found on the balance of probabilities that he had inappropriately touched her breasts and that his motives were sexual.
The GP was then allowed to return to practice following a one-year suspension as the MPTS concluded he did not pose a risk to the public.
But on June 20, High Court Justice Timothy Mould issued a judgement stating that Dr Konathala’s behaviour was fundamentally incompatible with remaining in practice as a doctor.
“It is behaviour that cannot properly and reasonably be regarded as compatible with the respondent’s continued registration as a doctor.”
The MPTS sanction of a one-year suspension was quashed and Justice Mould said his provisional view is to direct that Dr Konathala’s name is erased from the doctor’s register, banning him from practice.
He adjourned his final decision for 14 days on whether to ban Dr Konathala to allow the GP’s representatives and the General Medical Council (GMC) – who brought the appeal – to make submissions.
‘I was numb’
A tribunal previously heard that in 2019 the woman, referred to as Patient A, attended a consultation for ankle pain and then later in the consultation requested contraception.
Patient A said Dr Konathala explained that he would need to do a general health check and then started to lift her top, touched her back, chest and breasts.
She stated that she found Dr Konathala’s actions to be “really creepy and strange” and that “the way he was touching me did not feel like a doctor checking me”.
Describing the incident, she said: “I was numb because it was so uncomfortable what had happened and in my mind I was trying to make excuses that maybe this is the procedure, it’s nothing wrong.
“It wasn’t until the very end when he came so close to me and it felt like he was going to, you know, do something, like kiss me, that’s when I left and I pulled my top down and then I went to sit down.”
The incident was reported to the Met Police who decided to take no further actions due to a lack of witnesses, CCTV or forensics.
Dr Konathala said: “I did not examine Patient A’s breasts, back or chest as alleged. I deny that I touched her top, back, hips and breasts.”
But the tribunal concluded in February 2024 that parts of his evidence were “implausible” and suspended him for one year.
In February this year the same tribunal service decided that, having served his year suspension, he could return to practice.
They concluded he “has reflected extensively on his learning, how he has improved, and how he will embed this learning into his future practice”.
The GMC, which investigates concerns about doctors before referring them to the MPTS, appealed against the decision to give Dr Konathala a suspension rather than erasure – leading to the High Court’s decision in June.
