Dr David Mackereth, 60, had been a practising doctor for 26 years, until he lost his job with the DWP. He told the DWP in a training session that in good conscience as a Bible-believing Christian he could not identify clients by their chosen ‘gender identity’ instead of their biological sex. In response, the DWP declared this would amount to ‘harassment’ under the Equality Act 2010 and dismissed Dr Mackereth from his role as a Health and Disability Assessor.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Dr Mackereth launched a legal claim for discrimination on the grounds of his Christian and philosophical beliefs.
The GMC said: ‘We have carefully assessed all the information you kindly provided. We don’t believe this is an issue requiring further GMC action being taken with a view to removing or restricting your registration. Although your views might be considered contentious, we haven’t seen evidence to suggest that patient safety is at risk from the information provided nor that your fitness to practise is impaired.’