GMC stance on “climate protest doctors” a concern

There is concern over doctors being referred to a MPTS for climate protest related activities.  The British Medical Association (BMA) recently commented on the case of Dr Patrick Hart who was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court, after being found guilty of criminal damage on 29 October last year.

In August 2022, with a group from the campaign Just Stop Oil, Dr Hart used a hammer and chisel to crack the display of 16 petrol pumps and disable them at the Esso petrol station at Thurrock Services on the M25.

According to reports, he pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge of criminal damage since while ‘he did not dispute the bare facts of the prosecution’s case’, he said that to plead guilty ‘would have been dishonest’. Before the sentence, he said: ‘I do not feel guilty for what I did. I believed then, and I believe now, that it was the right thing to do. It was the carefully considered action of a responsible citizen. My only defence, however, is a moral one, not a legal one. I did what I did as an act of conscience.’

Dr Hart will now also be referred to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing following the conviction.

Recently published GMC guidance explained that doctors have the ‘right to campaign’ but ‘must follow the law.’

In response, the BMA said:

“Whilst the General Medical Council has a duty to refer doctors to a medical tribunal when they receive a custodial sentence, in some cases, such as this one, the doctor’s actions will have no bearing on their ability to practise medicine nor pose any risk to their patients. Referring a doctor to a medical tribunal for something not directly related to patient care or their clinical skills, raises legitimate questions about the rules behind the handling of such cases and whether doctors should be punished twice for something totally unconnected to their role as doctors.

The climate crisis is a health crisis and as such doctors are understandably concerned about the failings of Governments to address climate change, at the detriment to society.  Doctors, like Patrick Hart, find it very difficult to understand why their ability to practise medicine could be suspended because of non-violent actions they take in protest of the climate crisis.”

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