A kidney specialist was warned about his behaviour towards female colleagues just months before he pursued an improper emotional relationship with a 19-year-old patient, a tribunal heard.
Dr Colin Millar, 52, is facing a practise ban after a disciplinary panel found his behaviour towards the young woman amounted to serious misconduct.
The consultant swapped phone numbers with the teenager, exchanged personal text messages, invited her to join him on a long coastal walk and offered to cook her his famous chilli.
He even sent her three rubber ducks as a novelty 20th birthday present after she told him she wanted to get an anchor tattoo while treating her for a long-term health condition at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
But the university student, referred to as Patient A, felt sick when she received a text to say he loved her and complained to the hospital in October 2012, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard.
It has now emerged that Dr Millar had been handed a warning from NHS Grampian in October 2011 about concerns raised in relation to his behaviour towards female members of staff.
The doctor had accepted he needed to change the way he interacted with young female acquaintances in the workplace, the hearing was told.
Yet just a few months later, in January 2012, Dr Millar began to pursue an improper emotional relationship with 19-year-old Patient A.
The doctor told the panel he wanted to befriend the woman to “fill a void” in his social life.
But MPTS panel chairman Peter Jefferys told him: “Your evidence to the panel on your motives was inconsistent and hesitant.
“You failed to provide a convincing explanation of why you sought friendship with a vivacious and attractive young woman.”
He added: “The panel are not convinced from the evidence adduced and your oral evidence that you have demonstrated sufficient evidence that you would not repeat your behaviour.
“It is of the opinion that the likelihood of you repeating your conduct is high.
“In conclusion, the panel finds that there is a possibility in the future that you may put patients at risk, and it is also in the public interest that the seriousness of your misconduct is highlighted.”
Dr Millar, who has 27 years’ medical experience, has been barred from examining female patients without a chaperone since last May.
He now faces further conditions on his registration, up to a year’s suspension or even being struck off the medical register following the panel’s findings.
The hearing continues.