The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for an urgent review after a Birmingham doctor was removed from the medical register for five months. Dr Sarah Benn had taken part in a Just Stop Oil protest with her license to practice medicine called into question.
The city GP was suspended last week after the General Medical Council (GMC) found her fitness to practice as a doctor had been impaired by reason of misconduct. She could still face being permanently struck off. Dr Benn was previously jailed for 31 days for contempt of court after breaching an injunction not to demonstrate outside Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire in 2022.
The 57-year-old was arrested on three occasions at “peaceful” demonstrations, which demanded the Government end new fossil fuel projects. The BMA, the trade union for doctors, said it had “serious concerns” about her suspension.
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Taking to X, formerly Twitter, it posted: “We have written to @gmcuk to raise our serious concerns about the recent suspension of Dr Sarah Benn. There must be an urgent review of the basis on which Dr Benn found herself in front of a medical court.” The letter, posted below, said: “Like any citizen we believe doctors should adhere to the law, but many in the profession will find it difficult to understand their ability to practice medicine could be suspended because of peaceful actions they take in protest of the climate crisis.
“Whilst we know the GMC currently has a legal duty to refer doctors to a medical tribunal when they receive a custodial sentence following a criminal conviction, this is not the case where the custodial sentence relates to a civil breach, as it does here and it’s abundantly clear the doctor’s actions have no bearing on their ability to practice medicine and will not pose a risk to patients, past or future.”
It added: “This ruling sends a worrying message to doctors about the regulation of matters not directly related to patient care or their clinical skills and raises serious questions about the rules behind the handling of such cases.
“There needs to be urgent reconsideration on the framework that allows a doctor to be suspended for the punishment they already received for taking part in a legitimately peaceful protest, on matters of conscience so critical to our future to which all doctors are so understandably concerned. Dr Benn’s actions and her resulting custodial sentence posed no threat to patients, but her suspension implies they do. We ask that the GMC works with us to review the basis on which Dr Benn found herself in front of a medical tribunal.”
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Tags: Birmingham doctor suspended Stop Oil protest prompts urgent review plea
