Jailed GP suspended for 10 months over climate protest

A GP who was sentenced to 12 months in prison after he took part in a climate protest should be suspended for 10 months, a tribunal has decided.

Dr Patrick Hart, a GP in Bristol, was sentenced in Chelmsford Crown Court in January after being found guilty of criminal damage last year.

In August 2022, with a group from the campaign Just Stop Oil, he used a hammer and chisel to crack the display of 16 petrol pumps and disable them at the Esso petrol station at Thurrock Services on the M25.

Now a Medical Practitioners Service Tribunal (MPTS) panel determined that his fitness to practise is ‘currently impaired by reason of misconduct and convictions’ and decided to suspend his GMC registration for a period of 10 months.

The tribunal said that the ‘deliberate damage’ to the petrol pumps went ‘beyond the bounds of peaceful protest’, caused closure of the forecourt until 6pm and left three quarters of the pumps out of action for 24 hours, resulting in economic loss to the owners.

MPTS tribunal chair Lee Davies said the tribunal determined that Dr Hart ‘lacked insight into the seriousness and consequences of his actions’.

He said: ‘The tribunal noted that while Dr Hart had been open and honest throughout the proceedings, he had not expressed any apology or regret for his actions.

‘He has consistently stated that he does not believe he has anything to apologise for, as he considers his conduct to have been justified in pursuit of his climate activism.’

During the hearing, Dr Hart submitted that the tribunal’s findings on impairment reflected what he described as ‘upside down logic’ and ‘selective reasoning’; he disagreed with the tribunal’s approach in focusing on the nature and seriousness of his acts rather than the beliefs and motivations underpinning them.

The tribunal considered that although the incident did not occur within Dr Hart’s clinical practice, he ‘nevertheless used his professional status’ as a registered medical practitioner.

Mr Davies said: ‘He had sought to rely on his position as a doctor to lend greater legitimacy and public weight to the protest, which would not have been available to an ordinary member of the public.

‘The tribunal regarded this as an aggravating factor, given the high level of trust associated with the medical profession.’

The tribunal also determined that there was ‘no recognition’ by Dr Hart of the potential risk of harm to staff, the public or fellow protesters at the petrol station.

It said that the location of the protest created ‘an inherent risk’ due to the presence of flammable materials.

Mr Davies added: ‘The tribunal considered that this demonstrated a disregard for potential harm and for public safety.’

Dr Hart responded to the finding that he had used his status as a doctor to maximise the impact of his actions and he accepted that he had done so but denied that it was for ‘personal gain or in bad faith’.

He stated that the climate crisis is ‘fundamentally a health crisis’, and that as a medical professional he was ‘well placed to communicate the health implications of climate breakdown’, just as doctors had been expected to speak out during the Covid pandemic.

He also stated that safety ‘was taken seriously during the protest’, and that by avoiding the use of vehicles at a petrol station, the actual risk of harm was lower than during normal operations.

In his closing statement to the tribunal, Dr Hart said: ‘The greatest health threat to all of us is the unfolding climate catastrophe. If we do not stand up to the fossil fuel companies and the politicians who enable them, we will have failed our patients.’

The tribunal accepted that there are no concerns about Dr Hart’s clinical competence or the quality of care he provided to his patients, and noted that he was regarded as ‘a good general practitioner and that his interactions with patients were valued’.

Dr Hart’s custodial sentence remains current and is due to expire on 6 January next year, so the tribunal considered that Dr Hart cannot resume unrestricted practice until he has completed his custodial sentence.

Mr Davies added: ‘Balancing these factors, the tribunal concluded that a suspension of 10 months would be sufficient to mark the seriousness of the misconduct, provide Dr Hart with the opportunity to gain insight and undertake remediation, and maintain public confidence in the profession.

‘This period reflected the premeditated and deliberate nature of the offences, the lack of acceptance of wrongdoing, and the need to send a clear signal about the standards expected of registered medical practitioners.’

The tribunal determined to impose an immediate order of suspension to cover the 28-day appeal period and also directed a review hearing should take place before the end of the suspension period.

A spokesperson for campaigning group Health for XR told Pulse: ‘The decision marks a defining moment in the history of medicine in the UK and globally.

‘As the climate crisis intensifies, extreme weather will become more frequent. Health threats will exponentially escalate, placing every patient’s life at risk as a result. 

‘Most doctors spend their lives contributing to our healthcare systems and caring for patients without foreseeing a time when the fundamental aims of medicine would come into conflict with the government, political inertia on public health policies and protecting patients. Dr Hart’s case shows that time has arrived.’

Last year, the GMC published a document clarifying the threshold for investigating doctors who protest, saying that they have the ‘right to campaign’ but ‘must follow the law.’