GP who married widower shortly after patient’s death is suspended for six months

A GP who moved in with her patient’s widower less than six weeks after his wife’s death has been suspended from practice for six months by a panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.

Judith Ames, 52, of Plymouth, began a relationship with Robert Owens, 66, after a bereavement visit to his home on 24 March 2012. His wife, Joyce Owens, had died from lung cancer on 8 March. On 27 March Ames accepted Owens’s marriage proposal, and the couple married in September.

The GP often made house …