Fayed survivors say GMC let abuse continue by refusing to investigate doctors

Pelham Spong complained to the General Medical Council in 2017 about a doctor employed by Mohamed Al Fayed. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The GuardianView image in fullscreenPelham Spong complained to the General Medical Council in 2017 about a doctor employed by Mohamed Al Fayed. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The GuardianFayed survivors say GMC let abuse continue by refusing to investigate doctors Women say inquiry should look at medical regulator after it dismissed request to scrutinise medic accused of sharing results of intrusive sexual health examinations with tycoon

Victims of Mohamed Al Fayed have accused the medical regulator of allowing his sexual abuse to continue unchecked by refusing to investigate allegations that doctors were complicit in his crimes.

Survivors of Fayed’s abuse have called for the General Medical Council (GMC) to be investigated after it dismissed a request in 2017 to scrutinise a doctor accused of subjecting a woman to intrusive sexual health examinations and sharing the results with Fayed.

Almost a decade after complaints were first made to the GMC about Dr Wendy Snell, who died in 2022, the doctors’ regulator has now taken action against two other surviving doctors who are also accused of passing sexual health information to Fayed about women who he later abused.

Fayed, the former owner of Harrods died in 2023 a year before hundreds of women went public with accusations of sexual assault by Fayed over the previous decades.

Pelham Spong complained to the GMC in 2017 about Snell, a doctor employed by Fayed who subjected her to sexual health tests in 2008 as part of an interview process for a job with the former Harrods owner. The same day Fayed grabbed her face and forcibly kissed her, Spong alleged. Fayed also quizzed Spong about a sexually transmitted disease that Snell had assured her would be kept confidential along with all her results, she claimed. Her complaint, seen by the Guardian, said: “I know that there are other women who have similar stories involving both Fayed, and doctors and improper health screenings at Harrods. In fact, the recruiter who sent me on this interview had previously sent another candidate.” It added: “I felt humiliated, ashamed, and embarrassed that this potential employer knew the most intimate details of my body.” The GMC told Spong it was not in the “greater public interest” to investigate Snell. It added: “We have no powers to investigate, resolve or comment on whether a gynaecological examination should have formed part of your recruitment process.” Spong, who was 23 at the time of the abuse, told the Guardian: “It’s shocking that the GMC received intelligence like mine in 2017 and did nothing. They have been sitting on this for almost 10 years and let my abusers escape. There was an alarming lack of curiosity by the GMC which begs all sorts of questions. I was reporting trafficking.” In October 2017 Spong also reported her ordeal to the Metropolitan police, which obtained a copy of her complaint to the GMC as part of its initial inquiries, before taking no further action. She said: “Fayed continued abusing women until he died. So the fact that the Met and the GMC didn’t do their job in 2017 means more women were harmed. That’s on them, so absolutely they should be investigated.” Spong is backing calls for a public inquiry into Fayed’s crimes that would include failures by the Met and the GMC.

Joan* alleges she was raped in the 1990s by Fayed’s brother Salah Fayed after a sexual health examination by Dr Ann Coxon.

She alleges that before she was raped, Salah Fayed, who died in 2010, phoned Coxon in her presence and put her on speaker. She alleges Coxon then told him the results of her sexual health tests over the call.

Joan said: “I heard it first-hand and I’ve got it all written up in an affidavit that I made at the time. I have also got the test that she refers to.”

Joan said: “If the GMC had acted when the first complaints were made in 2017, Fayed could have been stopped and held to account. If they were hearing reports about malpractice they should have escalated it to the police. But instead the GMC, very begrudgingly, very slowly, after massive political pressure, are only now finally starting to take action. This is just the wrong way around. What is the GMC for?”

A third victim Judith*, says she was groped by Mohamed Al Fayed after a humiliating sexual health examination by Snell as part of a recruitment process for a job working for the family.

She said the examination occurred after Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. Judith said: “I had a full gynaecological test with sexually transmitted disease testing as well. I was really shocked and traumatised that this was needed and I felt so much shame. As a result, I have really struggled with having smear tests since. So the whole episode has really put my life at risk.”

She said: “I don’t want an apology from the GMC and a promise that this will never happen again. Instead there has to be clear legislation in place to ensure private doctors are monitored. At the moment there seems to be no oversight at all.

“A public inquiry needs to be started as soon as possible and that the GMC should be part of that.”

Coxon told the Guardian she could not comment but has previously denied carrying out sexual health tests on Harrods staff. The GMC has imposed restrictions on her ability to practise, and that of another doctor, pending a full investigation.

Emma Jones, a solicitor at Leigh Day who is representing several of Fayed’s victims, said: “The GMC is finally taking things seriously, because they’ve imposed interim conditions on these doctors which isn’t always a standard step in these investigations. This is far too little, far too late.

“When the complaints were first made to the GMC it should have reported them to the police. It beggars belief why they were not investigated earlier – they were such serious allegations they were conducting sexual health examinations and reporting back to Fayed without permission of the patient.

“The failings of the GMC is one of the crucial areas that needs to be investigated, and the only way to do that properly is through a public inquiry.”

A GMC spokesperson said: “The reports of sexual abuse carried out by Mohamed Al Fayed are horrifying and shocking.

“We are investigating doctors employed by Mr Al Fayed, and have written to the parties involved to provide an update on our investigations. We are taking these concerns very seriously and remain in contact with relevant authorities, including the Metropolitan police.

“We will take the appropriate action if we identify any potential fitness to practise concerns about individual doctors, but cannot provide information about individual investigations.”