AN NHS psychologist who made a video for an art project that featured herself and a female patient in lingerie has been allowed to keep her job.

Dr Annemarie Dalhuijsen-Bendijk recorded herself in bed stroking the woman’s hair with her hand and leg using a feather, a professional tribunal heard.

The psychologist said she was pursuing ‘artistic goals’, not sexual ones, and that they were wearing the Victorian underwear as costumes.

Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk met Patient A while working as a Clinical Psychologist at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust in Co. Durham and at Northumbria Hospital in Northumberland.

In 2016, a complaint was made by one of the patient’s friends who alleged the pair developed a personal relationship outside of their therapy sessions and recorded an artistic film together — a project which lasted over a year.

The friend also alleged the relationship had caused Patient A emotional disturbance.

But the Health and Care Professions Tribunal said it accepted the doctor’s ‘motivation was the pursuit of artistic goals, not sexual’.

It gave Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk a caution as she had shown remorse and attended a course on maintaining boundaries.

The panel heard that the artistic project culminated in Patient A making an 11 minute long video from the footage, which she described as ‘precious moments, just like your child on holiday’.

In the video, the pair can both be seen wearing Victorian lingerie and Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk can be seen stroking Patient A’s hair with her hand and stroking her leg with a feather.

The video also showed the pair in a state of undress on a bed, the tribunal heard.

Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk was accused of saying in the video to her patient, ‘you have a beautiful hole – two holes,’ or words to that effect.

But the psychologist said this comment was about the holes in her patient’s stockings and that Patient A was talking about a memory card not going in the right hole.

In the video, Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk can also be heard saying to her patient ‘of course there’s a connection, that’s what it is, isn’t it? There’s something there.’

She claimed she was talking about an artistic connection with her patient rather than a sexual one.

The misconduct hearing was told that the psychologist also met her patient for lunch, visited her at her parents’ house and went with her to an art gallery.

But the HCPT panel found that Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk’s actions were not sexually motivated, although they were inappropriate.

The panel ruled: (We have) considered (her) explanation for embarking on the relationship with Patient A and accepts that her motivation was the pursuit of artistic goals, not sexual.

‘(We are) not satisfied that (her actions) were carried out for the purposes of her own sexual gratification or in pursuit of a future sexual relationship.”

‘It is clear to the Panel that Dr Dalhuijsen-Bendijk has reflected on and learned from this experience and is determined not to repeat her mistakes.’

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