Dear Editor,
An English GP called Richard Scott has again come to the attention of the London GMC (General Medical Council) [see news, p.2]. Is it acceptable for a GP to pray with a client or offer them a Bible?
I came to faith in 2001 after working in the Outer Hebrides as an NHS GP. My atheism wilted after seeing how convinced Christians in the Hebridean Gaeltacht faced terminal illnesses.
I now happily distribute countless budget-priced copies of Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb by the late Val Grieve. But would I ever have distributed this paperback to my own NHS patients? My instinct was to maintain a clear boundary between medicine and spirituality. I do not dispute Dr Scott’s honourable intent but can also appreciate why he has been the subject of a GMC inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
James Hardy Belfast
