Stephen Krikler, 68 lost his job as Chief of Surgery at Kettering General Hospital after he cracked a series of ‘jokes’ (Picture: Stephen Krikler/ Cavendish Press)
A leading surgeon is allowed to return to work after he told a colleague, ‘blimey you must be a bit of a goer’ when she told him she had six children.
Stephen Krikler, 68 lost his job as Chief of Surgery at Kettering General Hospital after he cracked a series of ‘jokes’ which he believed ‘would flatten the hierarchy’ between him and junior staff.
In one exchange during a group discussion, the dad-of-two noticed the woman, known as Ms A, was not wearing any tights due to the warm weather and was seen ‘looking her up and down’.
He told her: ‘You’ve got your legs out. Seeing your legs like that reminds me of a t-shirt I once owned. It said: “Nice legs, what time do they open?”.’
When told by Ms A about her brood of children Krikler added: ‘Don’t you have a TV? You need to get a new hobby.’
In a third exchange when she phoned Krikler about a patient, the surgeon said: ‘It’s funny how your name popped up on my phone just as I was talking about perineal massage cream.’
The dad-of-two has apologised for his behaviour (Picture: Cavendish)
Ms A was said to have been ‘taken aback’ by the jokes and was left feeling ‘disgusted, really, really embarrassed and demeaned’.
She later complained to the medical director at Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, saying she was subjected to ‘innuendo, lewd conversation and ogling’ from Krikler.
It emerged he had previously got into trouble after he upset female colleagues by joking about giving them staff hugs.
At an appraisal meeting a colleague gave the feedback: ‘Sometimes in meetings you maybe need to leave the jokes out!’
Last April Krikler, from Kenilworth, Warwickshire was suspended from duty for five months after being found guilty of serious professional misconduct but at a review hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service last month he was allowed to return to medical practise.
The veteran doctor who qualified in 1980 and retired in 2022 was not at the Manchester hearing but he apologised in a written statement and detailed various professional boundaries courses he had undertaken.
It emerged he had previously got into trouble after he upset female colleagues by joking about giving them staff hugs (Picture: Stephen Krikler/Cavendish Press)
The incidents occurred between September 2019 and September 2021 when Krikler was working at Kettering General Hospital.
The General Medical Council said his actions ‘constituted sexual harassment in that he engaged in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which had the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of Ms A, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her’.
Ms A said she and Krikler were taking part in a group discussion and told the hearing: ‘After I had introduced myself and said I had (made the comment about her six children) Dr Krikler made the comment “blimey – you must be a bit of a goer” and implied that I …read more
Source:: Metro
