A doctor who was exposed by The Independent for offering therapy to turn gay people into heterosexuals is to have his fitness-to-practise hearing held in secret.
Journalist Patrick Strudwick went undercover in 2010 and wrote about his experiences being treated by psychiatrist Dr Paul Miller, a former health adviser to ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Iris Robinson.
He is alleged to have taken, or attempted to have taken, financial advantage of a patient on a number of occasions between 2004 and 2010.
The General Medical Council, which brought the case against Dr Miller, successfully applied for the entire hearing in Manchester to proceed in private.
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The case before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service had been in legal argument since it first started on 8 April.
In a statement the MPTS said public minutes would be published at the conclusion of the hearing, which is scheduled to last until 3 May.
The MPTS said: "All fitness-to-practise hearings are held in public, except in circumstances where the panel consider that the particular circumstances of the case outweigh the public interest in holding the hearing in public."
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Dr Miller also faces allegations that he failed to maintain professional boundaries with an unnamed patient and also provided sub-standard care to the same patient.
He is currently subject to a string of conditions imposed on his registration in January 2012 following a complaint to the GMC over claims he could convert gay people to heterosexuality.
Press Gazette reported in 2011 on GMC plans to hold fitness to practice hearings in secret under some circumstances.
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