The British Medical Association has just shown its contempt for science
The British Medical Association hasn't gone out of its way to court public affection lately – the 11 strikes the BMA has held since 2022 resulted in about 1.5 million cancelled appointments, though they also resulted in an astonishing increase in its members' pay. And it's a safe bet that patients won't be edified to learn that they're now 'energised' at the prospect of yet another strike.
But if the doctors' union is disastrously out of touch on strikes, it turns out that it's even more remote from public opinion on the contentious trans issue. The Cass Review recommended an almost complete ban on puberty blockers for children. Well, the man who led the BMA's opposition to the Report, Tom Dolphin, has now been made chairman of the BMA's council, its governing body.
The appointment followed what looks like a coup by the 69 member board which ousted the previous incumbent, Professor Philip Banfield. Dr Dolphin tabled an emergency motion last July that led to the union rejecting the Cass report. It announced it would be publishing its own review instead. But alas, nothing has so far appeared.
Let's remember that Hilary Cass, the author of the report, found that 'there is no good evidence' that puberty blockers for young people are safe to use and that 'it is unusual for us to give a potentially life-changing treatment to young people and not know what happens to them in adulthood'.
And it seems that in fact many doctors agreed. When the BMA council bypassed debate to reject the Cass review after it ran out of time to discuss the motion at the annual meeting, there were four attempts by members to have an open debate on the review. More than 1,500 doctors, the majority of them BMA members, signed a 'Not in Our Name' open letter to the BMA council, criticising the 'very undemocratic' decision to reject Lady Cass's findings.
But rather than respond to members' concerns, the BMA council has now elected Tom Dolphin to lead the organisation. It's not out to please, is it? Dr Dolphin's view on this issue can be judged by his position three years ago, when he posted photos of himself getting ready for a Trans Pride march, saying: 'About to set off to let London know that trans rights are human rights!'
Mind you, he didn't focus on this when he accepted his new position, observing that the last three years 'has been a period of huge change for the BMA which has seen doctors realise the power that they have as trade union members to change their working lives … for the better. The fight to restore doctors' pay and pensions continues.' More militancy then.
You have to ask: are doctors really best led by a man who takes such a radical approach to giving life-altering drugs to children confused about their gender? I'd say it's proof that the BMA isn't an organisation that patients or the Government can take seriously.
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