Psychiatrist admits making sexual advances to medical students he tutored

A consultant psychiatrist who admitted abusing his position as a tutor to make inappropriate and sexually motivated advances to three medical students at the University of Liverpool has had conditions imposed on his practice for nine months by a medical practitioners’ tribunal.

Vinesh Narayan, a clinical and undergraduate tutor for the Mersey Deanery in addition to his consultant post with 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, made comments implying that the students’ marks might depend on pleasing him.

In 2013 and 2014 complaints were made by two female students in the third year and one in the second year, alleging that Narayan had sent them suggestive text messages, arranged to discuss work in pubs, and invited them to his home. Two of the students said that he had touched them or tried to kiss them.

Narayan admitted asking one student for her phone number, sending her texts suggesting a drink (using the smile, wink, and kiss text symbols), and inviting her to his home, where he tried to kiss her on the cheek. He invited her to his home a second time and suggested celebrating her completion of her work with a beer before he marked it.

He suggested during an office meeting with the second year student that they go for a coffee, and he drove her to a pub. There he touched legs with her more than once and asked her if she had a boyfriend. Afterwards, in his car, he held her hand and purported to give a palm reading, pointing to the area under her thumb and remarking that the bigger that part was, the better the kisser. He asked her to test if that applied to her, and she declined.

He then encouraged her to feel the same part of his hand, leaned towards her, touched her hair, and told her that he had failed students when in a bad mood. He invited her to accompany him to his home city and, in a text message later, told her that he was about to mark her academic module, adding the symbol for a wink.

He questioned the third student about her partner, children, and private life, and asked her out for a drink and to play golf on several occasions. He once approached her in her car and attempted to kiss her on the cheek. At one point he suggested to her that spending time together could be the difference between her obtaining a “good” and an “excellent” mark, adding that he and she would “have to have a little understanding.”

Narayan admitted that the allegations were true and had shown “genuine remorse” and “considerable insight” into his failings, said Surendra Kumar, chairing the panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester. He had been attending regular sessions with an occupational health psychologist and had taken several courses on bullying, harassment, and observing professional boundaries. He argued that his patients’ care would be severely disrupted if he were suspended or struck off, an argument that was supported by his colleagues and employer.

The tribunal concluded that Narayan’s fitness to practise was impaired but that there was no risk of repetition. Suspension would be disproportionate and erasure “entirely disproportionate,” said Kumar.

Narayan must work under supervised conditions for nine months, with an approved mentor, and must tell any employer including locum agencies of his status.