A GP who admitted French kissing a patient while counselling her for child abuse can continue to practise medicine.

Dr Wesley Scott-Smith, of Wayfield Avenue, Hove, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council's professional conduct committee but let off with a reprimand after it heard he had an "excellent character" with a previously un-blemished record.

Unacceptable The hearing was told a 34-year-old patient, known only as Miss A, had expected a peck on the cheek from Dr Scott-Smith when he visited her flat in July 1998, but instead he stuck his tongue into her mouth.

Announcing the verdict yesterday, committee chairman Eileen Walker said Dr Scott-Smith's conduct had been "quite unacceptable".

She said: "When Miss A consulted you, she was at a vulnerable point in her life and trusted you to act professionally. You have admitted that you behaved in an entirely inappropriate manner by kissing Miss A intimately on the mouth at her home when unaccompanied.

"In doing so, you breached a trust that is central to good medical practice."

But she added the committee had taken into account his previous good record and the "impressive testimonials" on his behalf by patients, colleagues and friends.

She said: "Before and during the hearing, you have accepted fully and without reservation that you made a serious mistake."

The hearing was told that during a number of sessions with the GP in 1996, Miss A spoke "freely and frankly" about the sexual abuse she suffered from a member of her family as a child and how this had affected her current relationship.

In 1998, she returned to see him in an agitated state following an abnormal cervical smear test result and agreed he should visit her at home for another counselling session.

Miss A said initially the GP had sat on a sofa while she was several feet away on a chair.

But after she made him a cup of tea he suggested she sit on the sofa with him while they discussed several issues, including her child abuse.

She said: "He said at the end of the final session I had wanted to kiss him and he had felt the same. He later asked if he could now have that kiss.

"I was surprised because I thought it would be a peck on the cheek but it was a kiss on the mouth. He said, 'there's a lot going on inside you', and that this would be our secret.

"He telephoned me a little while later and said he was feeling guilty."

But Dr Scott-Smith, who has been married for 18 years and has two children, told the hearing that he and Miss A had consented to the kiss.

He said: "We had a three or four-second French kiss that was totally mutual."

He said he knew he had behaved like a "fool".

He continued: "I thought 'I shouldn't have done it'. There was a silence, she rested her head on my shoulder and I put my arm round her."

He gave Miss A a peck on the cheek and later called her to make it clear this would go no further.

Dr Scott-Smith was later charged with indecent assault but was acquitted after a two-day trial at Lewes Crown Court in 1999.

The GP's wife, Laura, also gave evidence to the hearing describing him as a "devoted family man" who had made a mistake.

Dr Scott-Smith told the committee he was "grateful" for its decision.