Members of the public and most patients will usually be completely unaware of even the existence of the General Medical Council (GMC) – the official regulator of medical practice in the UK. But they will be very aware that, increasingly, they often don’t get very good care when they go to the local surgery or hospital.
It has now been revealed the GMC allows doctors who change gender to have their past disciplinary records expunged from the public record.
The revelation emerged after concerns trans medic Dr Beth Upton – currently at the centre of an employment tribunal in Scotland – had been handed a new registration number. Dr Upton is one of 62 medics to have been given a new registration with a different GMC number.
This should matter a lot to you if ever you want to see a doctor. If you become concerned that your physician is treating you badly, or even dangerously, you can visit the GMC website, and check for free their past record in terms of disciplinary matters.
But now it has been revealed that the medics watchdog erases this public disciplinary history for doctors who change their genders. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realise that dodgy medics can now hide their disciplinary history by choosing to change their gender identity. Changing gender basically erases your past on the GMC medical register.
As a psychiatrist who has been involved in the psychological care of rape victims, I know how important it is that a female patient, recovering from this kind of trauma, should be able to specifically request a female doctor. But the way the GMC administers its register, patients are now unable to find out if their doctor was born a man.
Source: Trans doctors policy puts NHS patients at risk for one unbelievable reason