I’m a female surgeon – these are the horrific sexual abuses we face every day

Greta McLachlan co-authored the report that revealed one in three female surgeons had been sexually assaulted in hospital operating theatres. Here she describes their shocking and humiliating experiences at the hands of senior doctors

We are finally beginning to shed light on the dark and seedy underbelly of surgery (PA Wire)

This week’s publication into sexual misconduct in surgery, and the accompanying report, which I co-authored, make for shocking reading. The statistics are hard to deny, and the testimonials are heartbreaking. But for many women working in healthcare, neither are surprising.

Surgery is a small world. People talk. Everybody knows everybody else. Someone may accuse their training programme director who is friends with the consultants at the hospital they currently work at, or the president of a surgical college who wields greater power and influence, or even someone who oversees programmes across a very broad area. It is a highly interconnected world to exist in.

Once a complaint is raised, the retorts begin: “But he’s such a good surgeon,” “He’s so good with patients,” “He couldn’t possibly be abusing trainees because he is so supportive of them in meetings.”