Almost 1,500 GPs ask RCGP to take firmer stance on Gaza health crisis
Almost 1,500 GPs signed a petition from UK primary care professionals calling for the RCGP to take ‘action on the Gaza child health crisis’.
The petition, hosted by the group Care in Conflict, called on the college to publicly support a ceasefire, condemn the use of healthcare obstruction, and ‘join or lead a coalition’ of professional bodies on the issue.
More than 10,000 healthcare workers signed petitions addressed to various colleges depending on their roles.
The petition for primary care professionals had 2,339 signatories with 1,476 identifying themselves as GPs, according to site data.
The letter, addressed to RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne, said previous statements on the issue by the college ‘must not substitute for the clear, urgent, and sustained leadership this moment demands’.
‘Anything short of a public condemnation of the deliberate obstruction of aid and destruction of healthcare, and a commitment to coordinated action, risks being seen as symbolic rather than substantive’, it said.
It requested that the RCGP:
- Publicly and unequivocally condemn the use of starvation, siege, and healthcare obstruction as violations of international law and human rights, and call for an immediate ceasefire.
- Publicly support and align with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728, including its calls for unrestricted aid access and the protection of civilians and medical infrastructure.
- Join or lead a coalition of UK Royal Colleges and professional bodies in coordinated advocacy and statements of principle.
- Support calls for legal accountability for those responsible for the obstruction of aid, targeting of health workers, and violations of humanitarian protections.
- Provide a platform for concerned RCGP members to engage in advocacy, education, and public health dialogue on the responsibilities of doctors in humanitarian crises.
Responding, Professor Hawthorne said she understood RCGP members who ‘want to do something to help but feel powerless to do so’.
She said: ‘As a College, through our interventions to date, which include a letter to the Foreign Secretary and joint statements with other royal colleges and UEMO, we have been forthright about the seriousness of the conflict in Gaza and our concerns about the impact it is having on civilians and healthcare workers in Gaza and on public health.
‘We have explicitly called on the Government to press for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the return of hostages, for safe passage of sufficient food, water and humanitarian aid to be facilitated, and for medical professionals and their families and medical facilities to be protected in accordance with international law.
‘However, as a medical royal college our activity on geopolitical issues needs to conform to strict rules.
‘As a charity, we must comply with Charity Commission guidelines that any interventions we make are aligned with our charitable objective to encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible standards in general medical practice.’
In a May letter to the UK foreign secretary, Professor Hawthorne called on the Government to address the escalating healthcare crisis in Gaza.
She wrote a similar letter to previous foreign secretary Lord Cameron in December 2023, urging the Government to take urgent action in response to the crisis.
This month, a retired GP was among at least 13 health workers arrested at protests against the proscription of the group Palestine Action.
The group formed a ‘health block’ at the protest in Parliament Square to draw attention to attacks on health workers in Gaza.
It is estimated that over 1,500 health workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, which the UN Human Rights office has ‘condemned’.
