Historical sexual harassment claims not acted on by doctors’ watchdog

The five-year rule, which puts time limit on reporting sex assaults and rape, allows doctors who may be guilty to continue practising

More than one in 10 sexual harassment complaints against doctors are not investigated by the General Medical Council because of an arbitary" rule, the Observer can reveal.

According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, 13% of sexual misconduct complaints made between the years 2017-18 and 2021-22 were closed without investigation because the GMC is prevented from considering alleged incidents more than five years after the event.