Monday, May 23, 2011
Faith and physicians in the U.K.
Can a Christian physician discuss his faith with a patient? There's a case making the news today in England about a general practitioner who has refused to accept a formal warning from the Medical Council after he suggested, after a lengthy consult with a patient, that the patient's struggles might have a spiritual dimension to them as well. The Guardian reports that:
[The physician] argues that he acted within official guidelines, having asked if he could talk about his Christian beliefs to the patient, who is of a different faith, and having ended the conversation as soon as he was asked to.
The conversation only turned to religious matters after they had fully explored the medical options, according to Dr Scott. “He viewed his problem as purely medical issue and I said it might be more than that,” he said. “It was a consensual discussion between two adults.”
The patient did not file a complaint with the Medical Council -- his mother did. Also significant (to me, anyway) is that the doctor practices with other Christian physicians, and the partnership advertises the fact that they might discuss spiritual issues in the context of providing care. Of course bringing faith into the physician-patient conversation will not always be appropriate, but I have a hard time seeing why this case should be a matter for formal discipline unless we're ready to embrace a categorical ban on the introduction of faith into medical practice.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/05/faith-and-physicians-in-the-uk.html
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It seems to me that for a doctor to proselytize, which is what happened, is inappropriate. There is something wrong with the link you provided, but I found this in a story in the Daily Mail: "The complaint was brought by the mother of the 24-year-old patient, a man who was described as ‘in a rut and in need of help’. Dr Scott told him that faith in Jesus could give comfort and strength." How many Christians would look with equanimity on a Muslim doctor giving a 24-year-old man "in a rut and in need of help" a little talk about Mohammed and Islam? Patients visiting doctors can be extremely vulnerable, and for a doctor to take advantage of that to urge someone of another religion to put his faith in Jesus, or Mohammed, or Lord Vishnu seems extraordinarily inappropriate to me. I wouldn't call it "harassment," but I wouldn't call it appropriate or professional behavior for a doctor.
I found a video here
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8526760/Christian-GP-Dr-Richard-Scott-remanded-by-GMC.html
The doctor says he has done this thousands of times before, and that of 8 patients he invites to his local church's "Alpha courses," two accept, and one's life is helped. This is proselytizing, not helping an occasional patient in need of some spiritual counseling. If a doctor feels someone needs spiritual counseling, he should send that patient to someone of the patient's own faith.
Here is a site that explains what Alpha courses are:
http://uk.alpha.org/who-alpha-course