General Pharmaceutical Council determination — substantive hearing

GPhC ordered Sajjaad Patel's removal after regulatory sexual misconduct findings in 2024

The committee found serious sexual misconduct and impaired fitness to practise. Its regulatory findings were made using the civil standard of proof; the document also records an earlier criminal acquittal.

MedicWatch editorial · Published 12 July 2024 · Updated 22 September 2026

Erasure (struck off the register)

Data last checked: 22 September 2026Report a correction

What does “struck off the register” mean?

The regulator directed removal from the register in this decision. The decision explains when the direction takes effect and any appeal provisions. Check the official register for the practitioner's current registration status.

Concerning Sajjaad Patel, pharmacist (General Pharmaceutical Council 2087604).

Decision date: 12 July 2024 · Hearing started 8 July 2024 and ended 12 July 2024

In plain English

The GPhC committee directed Sajjaad Patel's removal from the pharmacists' register in July 2024 after finding serious sexual misconduct during a patient consultation. The document records an earlier criminal acquittal; the committee made its separate findings using the civil standard of proof. It found impaired fitness to practise, limited insight and insufficient remediation, and imposed an immediate interim suspension pending removal taking effect.

Charges

The allegations concerned an unnecessary physical examination during an emergency contraception consultation in September 2020, including intimate touching without consent which was alleged to be sexually motivated. The document records that the registrant had been acquitted in earlier criminal proceedings.

Findings

Applying the civil standard of proof, the committee found all allegations proved, serious sexual misconduct and impaired fitness to practise. It found that the examination was outside the registrant's competence, without clinical justification, and involved intimate touching without consent for sexual gratification. It identified limited insight, remorse and remediation, and directed removal from the register with immediate interim suspension. These were regulatory findings, distinct from the earlier criminal acquittal.

Mitigating factors

i. The Registrant admits that he carried out a physical examination, but that only consisted of touching Patient A’s stomach with her consent; and ii. The Registrant admits that he should not have undertaken the physical examination.

Aggravating factors

i. The Committee found that the Registrant had limited insight, limited remorse expressed, and had completed limited remediation; ii. The Registrant provided evidence that he does not consider that his conduct put Patient A at risk of harm; iii. The Registrant provided evidence that he does not consider that his conduct negatively impacted upon the pharmacy profession; iv. The Registrant was not honest with Patient A in inviting her for a physical examination that was not clinically justified, or that he was competent or trained to perform; v. The conduct was carried out in a therapeutic environment which led to an imbalance of power between the Registrant and Patient A; vi. The examination placed the patient in a vulnerable state where she was anxious; vii. The touching of Patient A’s private and sexual parts of her body led to a breach of trust between patient and pharmacist; and viii. The Registrant does not accept the Committee’s findings that: he touched her breasts, pubic area and/or genitalia, clitoris or bum; Patient A did not express consent for the Registrant to touch these areas; or that the touching was sexual in nature, sexually motivated or carried out for sexual gratification.

Source

All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published General Pharmaceutical Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.

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