The leading medical defence group in the UK has
said that GPs are free to pray with their patients as long as they are receptive
to the offer.

New guidance from the Medical Defence Union’s
quotes a senior figure at the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the
medical profession in the UK, saying that a “tactful” offer to pray could be
appropriate.

The news follows a number of recent cases in which
Christian medics have faced disciplinary proceedings for mentioning their faith
at work.

The comments were made in 2009 by the Assistant
Director of the GMC, Jane O’Brien. According to Pulse, a magazine for GPs, the
GMC is standing by the remarks.

The remarks were made a letter originally
published in The Daily Telegraph.

Ms O’Brien said: “Nothing in the GMC’s guidance
Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice precludes doctors from praying with their
patients.

“It says that the focus must be on a patient’s
needs and wishes. Any offer to pray should follow on from a discussion which
establishes that the patient might be receptive.”

And earlier this month Niall Dickinson, chief
executive of the GMC, said: “Conversations about faith should not be a starting
point.

“Doctors can however sensitively explore whether a
patient may wish to discuss their own faith when it is appropriate to their care
and then provide spiritual support if this is what the patient wants.”

In December 2008 Caroline Petrie, a Christian
nurse in Somerset, was suspended by her NHS employers under ‘equality and
diversity’ rules after she offered to pray for a patient. Mrs Petrie was
reinstated the following February.

Earlier this year it emerged that a Christian GP
who discussed his faith with a patient is facing disciplinary action and could
even lose his job.

Dr Richard Scott, one of six Christian partners at
Bethesda medical centre in Kent, insists that he only discussed how his faith in
Jesus had helped him as part of a “consensual discussion between two adults”
towards the end of a thorough consultation.

And despite the GMC’s stance on GPs being free to
pray with patients in certain circumstances, it claimed that by talking about
Christianity Dr Scott distressed one of his patients, and risked bringing the
medical profession into disrepute.

Dr Scott refused the official warning from the
GMC, and now “fully expects” to face a public hearing.