Whether Doctor dating their patients ?
It is not unethical for a doctor to date a current or former patient. Until now, the General Medical Council has discouraged doctors from having relationships with former patients deemed vulnerable at the time they were being treated, and it continues to ban them from current patients.
However, some senior doctors have warned that dating former patients is "flawed" and does harm to the public's trust in the profession. If you are considering whether to pursue a personal relationship with a former patient, you must use your professional judgment.
"Although it would not be possible to specify a length of time after which it is acceptable to pursue a relationship with a former patient, it is reasonable to expect that the more recently a professional relationship ended the less likely it is to be appropriate to begin a personal relationship with the patient." Some senior GPs, however, has previously warned that such relationships are always problematic.
"Any other basis for a relationship is flawed and needs to be criticised and resisted most vehemently. It is vital proper boundaries are maintained in relationships between doctors and patients."
Therefore, "we need new, authoritative public guidance which acknowledges the changes of the last 20 years, maintains the necessary safeguards for the vulnerable against exploitation or coercion, but gives a framework for those who wish to develop proper relationships."
In 2011, a poll of 282 GPs by Pulse found that half wanted the rules to be changed to allow them to have relationships with former patients, while 2 percent admitted they had begun relationships with patients they were still treating. Do you want to date a doctor? If so, you can try it: doctordatingsite.org
