Fayed survivors accuse GMC of letting abuse continue by refusing to investigate doctors

Victims of Mohamed Al Fayed have accused the General Medical Council of allowing his sexual abuse to continue by refusing to investigate doctors linked to his alleged crimes, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

Survivor Pelham Spong told the paper she complained to the GMC in 2017 about a doctor employed by the late Harrods owner. The medic was accused of sharing the results of intrusive sexual-health examinations with Fayed.

Spong says she applied for a job as Fayed’s personal assistant in 2008 while living in Paris. She alleges Fayed grabbed her face and forcibly kissed her during the recruitment process, and that the results of an intimate medical examination she underwent were passed on to him.

She reported the alleged assault to police in 2017, but the investigation was closed after officers said they were unable to take an account from Fayed because of his ill health. Her lawyers later complained to the police watchdog about the handling of the case, the BBC reported.

In November 2017 the GMC told Spong it could not investigate her complaint, saying it does not normally examine incidents more than five years old unless it is in the greater public interest to do so.

The women say any inquiry into the scandal should scrutinise the GMC’s handling of the complaint.

Sources

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/29/fayed-survivors-say-gmc-let-abuse-continue-by-refusing-to-investigate-doctors (Guardian, 29 Sep 2026 — Spong’s 2017 GMC complaint, survivors’ call for inquiry scrutiny)
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqldd2xpvy5o (BBC — Spong’s 2017 police complaint, GMC’s five-year-rule response of November 2017, GMC “horrifying and shocking” statement)