Statement on the outcome of Dr Sarah Benn's appeal
Today the High Court handed down judgment in an appeal brought by Dr Sarah Benn against the decision of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal (MPTS) that she should be suspended from the medical register for five months on the basis that her fitness to practice was impaired through misconduct. Dr Benn had been previously referred to a tribunal because in 2022 she breached several court orders, which amounted to contempt of court, and as a result she received a custodial sentence. The tribunal had concluded that by consistently breaching a court order Dr Benn’s actions amounted to misconduct. Having found her fitness to practise to be impaired, the tribunal decided to suspend Dr Benn’s registration for a period of five months and directed a review hearing.
Charlie Massey, Chief Executive of the GMC, said:
‘We note the High Court’s decision today to dismiss Dr Sarah Benn’s appeal against the five-month suspension imposed on her by a medical practitioners tribunal.
‘In a balanced and considered judgment Mrs Justice Yip found that Dr Benn’s conduct did amount to misconduct and emphasised that it was this conduct, not her beliefs, that had brought her before a medical practitioners tribunal. The judgment concluded that in finding her fitness to practise impaired the tribunal had based their decision not merely on Dr Benn’s actions – which fell below the standards of personal conduct expected of a doctor - but also on her intention to continue breaking the law. The judge also agreed that a doctor’s status as a trusted professional is called into question if they not only break the law but refuse to be bound by the law.
‘We agree that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing us all, particularly given the serious threat a changing climate poses to human health and wellbeing. Our guidance is clear that doctors, like all citizens, have a right to express their personal opinions on important issues like climate change, and there is nothing in our guidance that prevents them from exercising their right to lobby government and campaign - including taking part in protests. Our recently updated professional standards for all UK doctors, Good medical practice, also includes a new sustainability commitment, with a specific duty that all doctors should choose sustainable solutions.
‘However, patients and the public have a high degree of trust in doctors, and that trust can be put at risk when doctors fail to comply with the law.’
Background
- Dr Benn is registered but has not held a license to practise since 30 August 2022. This means she has not worked as a doctor in the UK since August 2022.
- The independent tribunal of the MPTS, after considering all the evidence, concluded that by consistently breaching a court order Dr Benn’s actions amounted to misconduct. Having found her fitness to practise to be impaired, the tribunal decided to suspend Dr Benn’s registration for a period of five months and directed a review hearing. Read the full determination on the MPTS website.
- In her judgment, Mrs Justice Yip found that the Tribunal was right to find that Dr Benn’s conduct fell “so far short of the standards of conduct reasonably to be expected of a doctor” that they amounted to misconduct. She emphasised that Dr Benn herself had acknowledged that it was not acceptable conduct “within the norms of behaviour and boundaries set by the governing body of the profession” and there was no doubt that it was sufficiently serious misconduct as to be marked with a term of imprisonment, particularly when regard was had to the disruption caused by it to the public and public services.
- Whilst acknowledging that Dr Benn’s views on the climate emergency and the need for real action were entirely reputable, the judge drew a sharp distinction between the underlying cause and Dr Benn’s deliberate and unlawful misconduct, emphasising that it was Dr Benn’s conduct not her beliefs that had brought Dr Benn before the Tribunal. She was clear Dr Benn’s motivations for acting as she did, did not convert what was otherwise obviously misconduct into something less.
- The judge also found that a doctor’s status as a trusted professional is called into question if she not merely breaks the law but refuses to be bound by the law, and the respectability and merits of the cause do not lead to a different conclusion. Whilst Dr Benn was perfectly entitled to campaign vigorously and to protest and was entitled to do so invoking her status as a doctor to engender trust and support for her views, she was not entitled to rely on her status as a member of the medical profession and the special trust that brings while repeatedly defying a court order.
- Dr Benn’s suspension from the medical register takes effect from today, in accordance with para 10(1)(c) Medical Act 1983. A review hearing at the MPTS will take place shortly before the end of the five-month suspension period.