BHA comments as Christian GP investigated following complaint

Monday, 23 May 2011 12:00 AM

An NHS doctor who is reported to have discussed Christianity 'thousands of times' with patients is being investigated following a complaint to the General Medical Council (GMC), the regulatory body for doctors. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has said the case illustrates the need to keep public services a shared and neutral space, and that doctors have a duty of care to patients that does not include proselytising.

Dr Richard Scott, a former missionary and a lay preacher, is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the sister legal organisation of the socially conservative lobby group Christian Concern, which aims to 'introduce a Christian voice into law, the media and government'. The BHA has reported on a number of cases raised by the Christian Legal Centre on the grounds of discrimination, including those of a Christian registrar and a couple who wished to foster children, and the subsequent dismissal of these arguments in the courts.

BHA Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips commented, 'The GP's surgery is surely a place where the needs and rights of the patients must be paramount. A doctor's personal religious beliefs, however deeply held, are not medical care and clearly should not become part of the service that they provide to the community. In this particular case it seems that a patient was so distressed by the discussion or imposition of religion during his consultation with this doctor that he complained about his experience. The duty of care that a doctor or other medical practitioners have towards patients does not include proselytising.'

Notes

For further comment or information contact Naomi Phillips at naomi@humanism.org.uk or 020 7079 3585. Read the BHA's criticism of false discrimination cases www.humanism.org.uk.

The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.

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