A GP who risked losing his job for offering to pray with patients has been cleared by the General Medical Council in a case that establishes the circumstances in which clinicians are allowed to use their faith in their work.
Dr Richard Scott, 59, who is a Christian, was investigated in May after the National Secular Society (NSS) said
that a “highly vulnerable” patient “felt discomfort at the use of prayer”.
The GMC, which conducted a fitness to practise inquiry, said it had a duty to investigate even though the NSS admitted it did not know who the patient was, and had heard the allegations second hand.
Scott, who works at the Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, Kent, said the case was “vexatious” but the