Aaron Groves, Former Tasmanian Top Psychiatrist, Barred from Occupying Executive Positions Due to Sex with Patient

July 6, 2023

The man who once worked as Tasmania’s chief psychiatrist will not be permitted to do so again, with a raft of hefty restrictions slapped on his registration after revelations of a sexual relationship with a patient.

Aaron Groves was temporarily suspended from practice by the Medical Board of Australia back in October last year and was subsequently temporarily stood down, but now, his ultimate fate has been sealed.

A newly-published Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision published on Friday reveals it has set aside the board’s suspension, and has instead imposed a list of eight serious conditions upon Dr. Groves’ medical registration.

These include that Dr. Groves – who has always denied wrongdoing – must not seek or accept the most senior job within any government department.

He must not practice psychiatry in private practice, and his interactions with patients must be overseen by a senior psychiatry supervisor.

Dr. Groves is also prohibited from overseeing other clinical staff, and can also only prescribe medications to patients with the approval of a supervisor.

A tribunal panel said Dr. Groves had been appointed to the role of chief psychiatrist – a statutory and non-treating role – in 2017 for a period of five years.

Then in March 2021, former Health Minister Sarah Courtney met with a woman who alleged serious misconduct by a Royal Hobart Hospital medical practitioner – not Dr. Groves.

One of the Minister’s advisers spoke with Dr. Groves and arranged for him to contact the woman over concerns about her mental health.

The tribunal noted Dr. Groves arranged mental health at-home support for the woman, but then began a personal relationship with her in December that year – after she’d been discharged into the care of her general practitioner.

In addition, in June last year, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) received a notification from a pharmacist that Dr. Groves had prescribed two scripts to the woman, with her address listed as his residential address.

The pharmacist suspected the pair was in a personal relationship.

Dr. Groves has argued he did not have a doctor-patient relationship with the woman, who he described as his partner, as his role did not involve assessing or treating patients.

He said his prescribing pain medication to his partner was an inadvertent breach, and done in an emergency when she had experienced severe and acute back pain from an old injury.

The Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr. Groves from practice, finding he “posed a serious risk” to persons and that doctors should never pursue personal or sexual relationships with anyone under their care.

After the board suspended his registration as a medical practitioner, Dr. Groves applied to the tribunal to review that decision.

“It has been incredibly hard for me to deal with the suggestions that I acted inappropriately with (the woman),” he submitted to the tribunal.

“Part of why it has been so distressing is because I hold very strong views about the absolute inappropriateness of sexual relationships between psychiatrists and their patients. I believe psychiatrists should never have sexual relationships with their patients, whether they are current or former patients … this is an issue close to my heart.

“It is very clear to me that if someone read on paper about (the woman) and my relationship and the way we met, then it would be reasonable for them to be concerned. It could easily look as if our relationship was born out of a clinical relationship. This would be cause for worry. But, it would also be wrong.”

The woman, in her submission to the tribunal, said she was “offended” by the suggestion Dr. Groves took advantage of her vulnerability to establish a relationship with her.

She said when they started a relationship, “there was no power imbalance between them” and that the pair had never been in a doctor-patient relationship.

Lawyers for Dr. Groves argued while the woman was “experiencing a situational crisis” when he first contacted her at the Minister’s request, her condition had resolved completely, many months before their relationship began.

They also argued the issue of Dr. Groves prescribing medication for her ought to be considered in the context of a medical emergency.

But the tribunal was not swayed by these arguments.

The panel found as the most senior psychiatrist in Tasmania, Dr. Groves had a responsibility to maintain public confidence in the state’s mental health service and ought to have been “an exemplar to those less senior in profession.”

Source: Amber Wilson, “‘This is an issue close to my heart’ Tas chief psychiatrist barred from top job after patient relationship,” Hobart Mercury, July 1, 2023.