Dunedin doctor who had affair with patient gets win at tribunal

A doctor who was struck off for an inappropriate affair with a patient will not be subjected to a three year practice ban. Photo / 123RF

A Dunedin doctor struck off after admitting a sexual relationship with a patient has had a small win after the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal reconsidered its penalty decision against him.

Dr Paul Charles Bennett, a former director of Broadway Medical Centre, had his registration cancelled and a range of other sanctions imposed after entering into the inappropriate relationship and initially attempting to mislead the Medical Council about the nature of the relationship.

Bennett appealed to the High Court, unsuccessfully, for the tribunal's decision to cancel his registration and to refuse him name suppression to be overturned.

However, as part of his decision, Justice Rob Osborne did note that one of the conditions which the tribunal had imposed on Bennett should he ever return to practising medicine appeared to be outside its powers under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance and asked the tribunal to reconsider the issue.

The tribunal, in line with the penalties sought by the Medical Council's professional conduct committee, had imposed a three-year period on Bennett during which, if he was practising, he had to comply with any requirements asked of him, by the council's registrar, at his own expense.

In a minute released yesterday, both the council and tribunal accepted that imposing the three-year order was beyond the tribunal's powers.

As the council had imposed two other conditions, which Bennett did not appeal, it did not seek any further orders to be put in place, a stance the tribunal agreed with.

As well as being de-registered, Bennett was asked to contribute $30,000 to the cost of the proceedings against him.

If he sought to practice again he would be required, at his own cost, to be subject of a sexual misconduct assessment test and also, for a three-year period, to advise any future employer of the tribunal's decision and its orders.

Bennett, who retired in 2019, began a sexual relationship with the patient, who was 30 years his junior, three years beforehand.

Although recognising the ethical problem and transferring the primary care of the patient to another doctor at the practice, Bennett still saw her professionally nine times when that doctor was unavailable and also continued to act as the GP for her children.

In its decision on the case, the tribunal said Bennett also concealed the true emotional and sexual nature of the relationship with his patient and misled the Medical Council.

"The Medical Council has a zero-tolerance position on such breach of sexual boundaries," it said.

"A doctor entering into a sexual relationship with a patient is at the high end of breach of professional standards."