A lovesick doctor who tried to woo a patient with

A lovesick doctor who tried to woo a patient with Valentine’s cards was today (THURS) found not guilty of serious professional misconduct.

GP Alan Carr, 41, sent the woman two romantic cards and bombarded her with phone calls asking for a date after his wife left him.

He even turned up at her home in Halesowen, in the West Midlands, to ask her out after trying to woo her for four months.

The patient, a 34-year-old mother-of-two, claimed that Dr Carr had been stalking her after she bumped into him at a restaurant, a petrol station and a supermarket.

But he was cleared of those ‘stalking’ allegations after telling the GMC that the meetings were a coincidence.

Dr Carr had admitted trying to start a relationship with the patient but said he was lonely and depressed after his wife dumped him for another man.

And Dr Carr was today cleared of serious professional misconduct over the incidents.

Announcing the ruling, committee chairman Professor Peter Richards said: ‘It was clear that your wish to contact the patient was of a social nature and we have no doubt that you had no desire to cause distress to her, nor did you realise that your conduct might have that effect.

‘Once you were told that she wished no contact with you, you immediately ceased any further attempts to contact her and expressed your regret.

‘She was a vulnerable patient but you were also vulnerable at the time and were suffering from considerable stress.

‘Taking into account of all the circumstances in this sad case we have judged that your actions, although a cause of very considerable cause, are not sufficient to amount to serious professional misconduct.

‘We nevertheless wish to leave you in no doubt that your behaviour fell short of the standards expected of registered medical practitioners.

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The GMC heard that Dr Carr first took an interest in the woman, known as Miss A, when she first visited his surgery in Halesown suffering from stress in January 1999.

The following month he sent her two Valentines cards, one of which read: ‘Your secret admirer.

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She received another card from him which said: ‘I am too shy to call you.

Our futures could coincide with just a simple kiss.

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He also phoned her a number of times at home and eventually called at her house on May 12, 1999 to ask for a date.

Miss A, a human resources manager for the NHS at the time, believed Dr Carr was stalking her and her called her ex-husband round to frighten him off.

The GP then called back an hour later when Miss A’s former husband had lost.

The terrified patient refused to answer the door and phoned the police.

They spoke to Dr Carr later that evening and he has had no contact with the woman since.

Miss A had told the hearing that she was ‘anxious and nervous’ by Dr Carr’s behaviour.

She said she became desperate for the police to intervene and help her.

Miss A told the committee: ‘I was anxious and nervous.

It was obvious to tell that he was harassing me.

‘I looked harassed.

The only thing in my mind was that I had had enough and I was going to the police station which was round the corner.

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The woman said that three days later when she was sent home from work on May 12, 1999, she could not believe her eyes when the doctor called at her house.

She told how her manager and ex-husband were discussing the situation when Dr Carr arrived.

Miss A said: ‘We were having a chat and the doctor’s car pulled up outside the house.

‘I remember him pulling up in front and I could not believe he was there.

‘I scurried into the kitchen with the phone to call the police to see what they were doing.

‘My ex-husband, who is quite a big man, stood in the window with his hands on his hips looking mean.

‘The doctor went.

Having been there with me for sometime after that my ex-husband left.

‘He said he thought I would be safe now because the doctor had seen him in my house.

‘My ex-husband had not been gone but minutes and Dr Carr arrived back again.

‘He knocked on the door but I did not answer.

‘I quite clearly was not going to open the door.

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Dr Carr, of Meadowbrook Road, Halesowen, left the hearing today without comment.

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