Press Association
Saturday 11th February 2012
A Harley Street psychiatrist faces being struck off after having improper sexual relationships with vulnerable female patients.
Dr Theodore Soutzos courted three women he treated between 1999 and 2006 at NHS and private clinics.
The General Medical Council panel found the psychiatrist's fitness to practise was impaired after hearing he had slept with a patient and then warned her not to tell anyone because his mother would "die" and he would lose his career if anyone found out.
He treated Patient A at Guy's Hospital in London from January to December 1999 after she was admitted with possible personality and post traumatic stress disorders.
The panel heard how Dr Soutzos showered her with compliments and took her on trips to art galleries and on swimming trips, inviting her to his north London flat and having sex with her before dropping her back at the hospital, Patient A said.
The woman, who was 37 at the time, said her mental health deteriorated after the sexual encounter and she felt stressed by his warnings that she must not tell anyone.
Dr Soutzos also developed a relationship with a patient who suffered from agoraphobia who he treated at Bowden House Clinic in Harrow between 2003 and 2006 when she was 18.
He told the patient - known only as Miss B - that she should get involved with "older and less attractive" men. He would text her in the middle of the night and hug her every time they met, Miss B told the tribunal.
The panel found that Dr Soutzos' conduct was inappropriate, was an abuse of his position of trust and liable to bring the medical profession into disrepute.
Dr Soutzos, who denied the misconduct charges, will hear what sanctions will be imposed on him on Friday.