The High Court has taken the rare step of quashing findings of fact by a General Medical Council fitness to practise panel, ruling that the panel’s determination was “flawed by reason of procedural unfairness, failure to give adequate reasons, and, as a result, a possible failure properly to address all the evidence.”
The panel found that Robin Lawrence, a Harley Street psychiatrist, encouraged a woman patient to believe that he wanted to pursue an emotional relationship with her, told her he had a sexual fantasy about her, spoke of meeting her socially, and continued with psychotherapy after he had become emotionally involved with her.
Although it was not alleged that he had a sexual relationship with “Patient B,” the panel held that his behaviour was sexually motivated …
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