A group of doctors and activists have petitioned the GMC to reverse the suspensions of two GPs who took part in climate protests.
The group handed in a letter to the GMC objecting the regulator’s decisions over doctors partaking in climate protests last week.
The open letter, which received over 2,100 signatures from members of health, law and scientific communities, calls on the GMC to reverse the suspensions of Dr Diana Warner and Dr Sarah Benn.
Campaign group ‘Health For Extinction Rebellion’ organised the hand-in of the letter last week, 24 October, at the London offices of the GMC.
The GMC sent someone out to receive the letter, but the organisers have not had a formal response to the letter since.
The letter states: ‘Drs Warner and Benn took part in actions with Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil which aimed to increase public awareness of the Climate Emergency and to insist on the obligation of governments to take action commensurate with the scale of the threat.’
It asks the GMC to ‘reverse these suspensions and to show its support for those who have sacrificed their freedom in calling for the ‘deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions’ which (according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) are humanity’s last hope.’
Signatories of the letter include 170 GPs as well as some high-profile names such as the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
Jason Scott-Warren, a spokesperson for the open letter said: ‘Institutions that we trust to safeguard our society, such as the GMC, are failing to recognise the proximity and scale of the threat of climate collapse.
‘They need to pivot rapidly into emergency mode, rewriting their rules to give us a chance of survival.
‘We have asked the GMC to set up a meeting with a group of signatories and we are looking forward to their response.
‘In the meantime I’ll carry on collecting signatures and will send them an updated copy of the letter if and when we hit significant milestones.’
A GMC spokesperson said: ‘We’ve received a letter from Health for Extinction Rebellion and will be responding in due course.
‘Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing us all, particularly given the serious threat a changing climate poses to human health and wellbeing, and we are committed to doing what we can to tackle climate change. But it is not our role to determine whether UK law as regards climate change protests needs to change – that is a matter for Parliament.
‘We are required by law to consider all concerns referred to us including where a doctor has been convicted of a criminal offence or otherwise broken the law.
‘There are occasions when a doctor may have broken the law, but we conclude that an investigation, or a referral to a tribunal, is not necessary to protect the public or public confidence. However, if a doctor receives a custodial sentence following a criminal conviction, we must refer the case to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service for a hearing. This is required in law and we can’t exercise any discretion over this.
‘Doctors, like all citizens, have the right to express their personal opinions on issues, including climate change. There is nothing in our guidance to prevent them from doing so, nor from exercising their right to lobby government and to campaign – this includes taking part in protests.
‘However, when doctors’ protesting results in law-breaking, they must understand that it is their actions in breaking the law, rather than their motivations, that will be under scrutiny. 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.’
The regulator published a document in the summer clarifying the threshold for investigating doctors who protest, saying that they have the ‘right to campaign’ but ‘must follow the law.’
Dr Warner took part in a climate protest blocking the M25 motorway. She was suspended for three months following an Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in August.
The tribunal found that her fitness to practise was impaired after examining allegations that Dr Warner had breached a court order by protesting on the M25 in 2021 and had damaged the property at a magistrates court in 2022.
Dr Benn, who took part in climate change protests at a Warwickshire oil terminal in 2022, was referred to the MPTS for multiple breaches of a court order and was suspended for five months in April of this year.
