A top kidney doctor who was suspended from duty after pursuing a relationship with a teenage patient will learn next month if he can return to work.
Dr Colin Millar will have his case reviewed by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service on February 9.
He has been banned from working since October after details of his attempts to form an “inappropriate emotional relationship” with a 19-year-old woman were revealed.
Dr Millar had offered to make his “famous chilli” for the patient and invited her for a long coastal walk, a hearing was told.
The woman also received three rubber ducks as a 20th birthday present after she told him she wanted to get an anchor tattoo.
She complained to the hospital after Dr Millar, a senior figure at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, sent her a text that said “love you”, the panel was told.
Dr Millar was told by the tribunal that he could put “patients at risk” by repeating his behaviour.
He was one of 32 staff at NHS Grampian to be suspended from duty last year.
The total included two consultants, one of who was re-instated while the other – Dr Millar – remains suspended.
The figures released under Freedom of Information laws show that of the 32 employees, 19 were reinstated, seven were dismissed, four are still suspended and two left the health board.
Allegations of unprofessional behaviour, inappropriate conduct, breach of alcohol policy and failure to disclose a conviction were behind some of the suspensions.
In Dr Millar’s case, the panel found that striking him off the professional register would not be a proportionate punishment and a suspension was deemed a useful deterrent.
The specialist claimed he was trying to fill a void in his life while treating the young woman for a long-term health condition at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
However, the panel found his suggestion unconvincing.