A former NHS England director and GP has been erased from the medical register after he was convicted for downloading hundreds of indecent images of children.
Dr Robert Varnam was convicted on 4 May last year at Manchester Magistrates Court after over 200 indecent images of children were found on his devices, according to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) ruling.
The MPTS said that the initial concerns were raised with the GMC in December 2020 by Greater Manchester Police, after Dr Varnam was arrested.
In reaching its conclusion that the conviction ‘amounted to serious departures from the standards expected of a doctor’, the tribunal ‘had regard to the nature and seriousness’ of Dr Varnam’s conviction.
The MPTS ruling said: ‘It bore in mind that over 200 indecent images of children had been found on his devices, and that the majority of images depicted children in the age range of 8 to 12 years of age.
‘Two of the images were category A, which is the most serious category of indecent image, involving penetrative sexual activity.
‘13 images were category B, which involve non penetrative sexual activity, and the remaining images were category C, which are indecent images of children which do not fall into category A or B.’
The tribunal documents also said that ‘in relation to the “triggers” for his offending’, Dr Varnam explained in his witness statement that prior to his arrest, ‘he was working very long hours in his clinical roles’.
The document said: ‘He often worked up to 75 hours per week, rarely took a break and neglected his self-care. He says he initially looked at naturist photographs of children, but subsequently downloaded indecent images of children.’
The tribunal added that notwithstanding Dr Varnam’s remediation and ‘the low risk of repetition’, it was ‘in no doubt that members of the public would be appalled to learn that a registered doctor has a conviction for making [downloading] indecent images of children’.
It concluded that Dr Varnam’s fitness to practise ‘is impaired because of his conviction’ and decided to erase his name from the medical register.
The ruling added: ‘Erasing Dr Varnam’s name from the medical register means that he will no longer be able to practise medicine (should he wish to do so at some point in the future).
‘However, the tribunal has balanced the aggravating and mitigating factors and reached the conclusion that erasure was an appropriate and proportionate sanction in all the circumstances.’
At the time of the events to which the proceedings relate, Dr Varnam was practising as a GP at the Robert Darbishire Practice and was also the director of general practice development for NHS England.
He was committed to Manchester Crown Court for sentence and was sentenced on 13 July last year to a two year community order, a rehabilitation activity requirement, 150 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, a requirement to register with the police in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed for five years.
Dr Varnam qualified in 1995 and practised as a junior doctor at various hospitals around Manchester before taking a role as a GP registrar and later a salaried GP principal at the Robert Darbishire Practice.
He also worked as the director of general practice development and clinical lead for primary care transformation, both for NHS England.
During this time he featured in Pulse, including in the Pulse Power 50, and spoke at Pulse LIVE events.
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Having been notified by the local safeguarding team in December 2020 that Greater Manchester Police had executed an arrest warrant, NHS England took steps to suspend Robert Varnam from the NHS primary care performers list the same day and then subsequently from his employment with NHS England.
‘Robert Varnam ceased employment with NHS England in April 2021 and he was terminated from the NHS primary care performers list following his conviction.’
A GMC spokesperson said: ‘The GMC referred the case to the MPTS, which took place in January 2024. The GMC submitted for a sanction of erasure, submitting that the conviction was fundamentally incompatible with continued registration and erasure was the only appropriate and proportionate sanction.
‘An independent medical practitioners tribunal found Dr Robert Varnam’s fitness to practise impaired, owing to his criminal conviction, and determined to erase him from the medical register.
‘Any doctor has the right to appeal a determination of a medical practitioners tribunal against them under Section 40 of the Medical Act 1983. They must file their appeal within 28 days of being notified of the tribunal’s decision.’
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