Fayed accusers to complain about doctor after tests
At least two doctors are reported to have carried out the examinations, including invasive sexual health tests.
Women who say they had “intrusive” medical tests while working at Harrods are to make a complaint to the regulator about a doctor, says an ex-employee who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed.
The woman, known as Natacha, says the examinations carried out by Dr Ann Coxon were “wholly unnecessary”.
The doctor was one of at least two who are reported to have carried out the medical tests. Another, Wendy Snell, has since died.
Many of the women interviewed for the BBC documentary and podcast Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods said that when they had begun working for the London department store they had undergone medicals, including invasive sexual health tests.
They would be making a formal complaint to the General Medical Council (GMC).
Dr Coxon has been approached for comment.
Fayed, who died last year aged 94, was the owner of Harrods between 1985 and 2010.
He is accused of multiple rapes and sexual assaults by several women who worked for him – many of whom felt unable to report what had happened until recently.
Dozens more women have been in touch since the BBC programme aired last week.
Natacha, part of the Justice for Harrods survivors group, said Dr Coxon had questions to answer about the medical examinations that she carried out on behalf of Fayed.
“The examinations carried out by Dr Coxon were intrusive and wholly unnecessary,” Natacha said.
“They also resulted in many employees’, including my own, confidential medical information being inappropriately shared within Harrods. This should not have happened.”
She said the group would expect the regulator to investigate the allegations made in the BBC documentary.
Niall Dixon, a former chief executive of the GMC, said doctors in the UK should not share information about a patient without their consent, and even in circumstances when it was disclosed to an employer it was “usually very restricted”.
On the claims in the Harrods cases, Mr Dixon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was “no justification whatsoever for revealing a patient’s information, for example to the chairman of a company”.
He added that doctors hearing about the allegations would be “utterly horrified because trust is at the absolute centre of that doctor-patient relationship”.
A GMC spokesperson said the allegations relating to the medical staff were “deeply concerning”.
“If we identify any potential fitness to practise concerns about individual doctors, we will thoroughly examine all relevant information and take action as appropriate,” they added.
