Two news items which ought to have a mention here:
The General Medical Council, the regulatory body for doctors in the UK, has published a leaflet in conjunction with the homosexual rights group Stonewall (as pointed out here) giving detailed advice about how to lodge a complaint against doctors who are felt to be discriminating against homosexual and bisexual patients.
The leaflet, entitled Protecting patients: your rights as lesbian, gay and bisexual people, has been part funded by the Department of Health and published following a survey by Stonewall into homosexual and bisexual men's health.
The leaflet says doctors must not unfairly discriminate against patients by allowing their personal views about sexual orientation adversely to affect their professional relationship or treatment. Doctors also must not express to their patients their personal beliefs in ways that exploit their vulnerability or are likely to cause them distress.
It asks patients who think their doctor is not fit to practise to contact the GMC.
There is no doubt that doctors should treat patients without discrimination in any way.
But some homosexuals consider Christianity and the Bible "homophobic" and orthodox Christian views on sexuality offensive. Will this leaflet encourage vexatious complaints against doctors known to have orthodox Christian beliefs on sexual matters?
Moreover, the Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The GMC has published a leaflet for homosexuals, but not apparently for any of the other groups.
Is this discriminatory?
And the second news item:
