AN anaesthetist groped a young woman after she had been injected with a sleeping drug, the General Medical Council heard yesterday.

Dr Chandra Ganatra is said to have subjected patients and staff to four years of 'indecent behaviour' at the Dryburn and Shotley Bridge hospitals, in County Durham.

A nurse who saw him groping a young woman said yesterday she was 'shocked and upset' when he carried out an identical assault just a week later.

The doctor, in his early 50s, is accused of indecently touching three women patients after he had anaesthetised them. He is also said to have groped three nurses on the ward.

Dr Ganatra, of Dryburn Road, Durham, denies serious professional misconduct.

He was suspended on full pay in 1999 when the allegations were made, but was cleared by an internal inquiry. A police investigation also cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing and he returned to the hospital.

The doctor denies acting inappropriately, indecently and in a manner which showed disregard to patients' privacy and dignity, between 1995 and 1999.

The hearing continues,