London (Parliament Politics Magzine) – Hundreds of health staffers have urged the General Medical Council to prevent suspending doctors imprisoned for peaceful climate activism ahead of a trial which could witness the first jailing of a functional GP for a non-violent climate demonstration in the UK.
Two former GPs have been suspended by GMC-convened tribunals this year after acquiring short sentences for non-violent crimes during Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain demonstrations in 2021 and 2022. The medical regulator did not voice concerns about the doctors’ clinical capabilities but stated their actions damaged public confidence in the profession.
How do health staff argue against GMC’s policies?
This act angered many medics, with the British Medical Association representing one suspension as “malicious” and declaring the GMC had created a “dangerous precedent”.
An open Âletter opposing the GMC’s hardline policy and signed by 464 GPs, hospital doctors, consultants and nurses, as well as public figures including Rowan Williams, the ex-archbishop of Canterbury, and the human rights advocate Peter Tatchell, was delivered to the regulator’s London offices.
The letter argues healthcare professionals have “turned to civil disobedience as a way to cause change” because
“billions of lives are being put at threat by rising global temperatures”.
It calls on the GMC to reverse the suspensions and
“show its support for those who have sacrificed their freedom in calling for the deep, rapid and Âsustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which … are humanity’s last hope”.
How does GMC view doctors’ involvement in protests?
On the other hand, the GMC expressed Doctors had the right to express their personal views on topics including Âclimate change.
However when doctors’ Âprotesting results in law-breaking, they must understand that it is their actions in breaking the law, rather than their motivations, that will be under Âscrutiny,
the spokesperson stated.
Patients and the public have a high degree of trust in doctors, that trust can be put at risk when doctors fail to comply with the law.