Four per cent of Dutch male doctors have admitted having sexual contact with one or more patients, a survey showed. The survey of about a thousand family doctors conducted by sexologist Peter Leusink in 2002 was published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine and covered prominently in national media, making the front page of the Algemeen Dagblad.

Citing Leusink's results, the Algemeen Dagblad daily said 4.3 per cent of male doctors surveyed and 0.8 per cent of female doctors had admitted sexual contact with patients, in most cases with one patient, but in a third of cases with two or three. ?We are not just talking about one-off incidents but a structural problem which must be directly addressed. The consequences for the patient are very damaging,? Leusink, himself a family doctor, told the newspaper.

He said the real incidence could even be higher than shown by the survey. The KNMG doctors? association expressed concern at the survey's findings: ?Four per cent is a lot, a serious matter. This undermines professionalism.?