Rules on doctors dating patients internet webcam dating

The Medical Board of Australia’s guidelines on sexual boundaries state: “Good medical practice relies on trust between doctors and patients and their families.

It is always unethical and unprofessional for a doctor to breach this trust by entering into a sexual relationship with a patient, regardless of whether the patient has consented to the relationship.

The balance of power in the professional relationship between a doctor or therapist and a patient makes a sexual relationship highly suspect and unethical.

You can contact Avant’s Medico-Legal Advisory Service or Avant’s Member Support Service for confidential counselling.Boundary violations can range from the obvious – engaging in sexual activity with a patient – to other transgressions, such as relationships with someone close to a patient, peer-to-peer relationships or those with other health care practitioners.While crossing these boundaries is not always a disciplinary matter, they may call into question your professionalism.For other specialty groups a relationship with a former patient may be acceptable depending on factors such as the duration of care provided to the patient, time elapsed since the end of the professional relationship and the degree of dependence and vulnerability of the patient.Sexual activity with a person close to a patient such as carer, guardian, spouse or child of the patient, or the parent of a child patient is also unprofessional.