Psychologist's license placed on probation for sharing a hotel room and drinking with a teenage patient

June 1, 2017

Gina Fearn, a forensic psychologist in Scotland, struck up a relationship with a teenage patient and in March 2016, they drove to a hotel for a two-night stay where they drank alcohol together in a shared room.  Hotel staff called police because of a disturbance in their room, and the patient was arrested.

She also invited the patient to stay at her house and other houses belonging to her family members over an 8-month period.  

According to a June 2017 Daily Mail article, “A Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) panel decided Fearn’s actions were serious enough to amount to misconduct and that her fitness to practice was impaired.”

She was given a 12-month conditions of practice order which expires on June 23, 2018.  During this time, she cannot treat patients under the age of 18 and must be monitored by a clinical supervisor.

SOURCE: Paddy Dinham, “Forensic psychologist who spent a boozy hotel night with a vulnerable teenage patient that led to him being arrested is allowed to stay in the profession,” Daily Mail, 1 Jun 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4562742/Psychologist-spent-boozy-hotel-night-vulnerable-teen.html.