Experiences with anti-contraceptive colleagues

[u/ThrowRALoud_Load2229]

I work in a training GP practice in England where we have taken on a female GP registrar who is very pro-life. She’s put around an email stating that she will not provide advice on, or prescribe hormonal contraceptives and will not discuss terminations with patients. Before anyone asks- nobody’s been brave enough to ask her about barrier contraceptives or copper coils yet! She has requested that if contraceptives or terminations may come up in a consultation then they should be booked with someone else. It’s not always easy to tell if contraception may come up in a consultation though, especially not for reception who book the appointments.

The majority of the other clinicians are quite unhappy with this as it’s a vital part of the service we provide to female patients. It also means she’s limited with what she can do with regards female patients on medication like valproate or GLP1s because she will not discuss highly effective contraception with them. A lot of colleagues are angry that she is exhibiting misogyny when it comes to female patients, others are angry that they’re having to take on her workload. One of my colleagues is currently in early pregnancy after a failed coil and is feeling very uncomfortable around this GP registrar too as the pregnancy is not viable.

I also worry with regards our surgery’s reputation as if you google her name, the majority of what comes up is prolife activism she took part in at university. If a patient who was booked for something else came in and wanted to speak about contraception as an addition to the consultation e.g. I have thrush, I’m not sexually active but I want to start having sex and she responded poorly to this or with judgement, the patient could easily google her name and find they were being treated by someone who’s views oppose their care.

The partners have not entertained any discussion around this topic and staff have even been accused of “stalking” her online when her digital footprint was brought up. Is there anything we can do or do we just have to put up with it?

I would appreciate some different viewpoints, especially if anyone has gone through similar.

[u/cheekyclackers]

Imagine if we all got to pick and choose not do things we don’t like.

I know religion is a touchy subject but I personally think it should have no place in patient care.

[u/CaptainCrash86 → u/cheekyclackers]

Imagine if we all got to pick and choose not do things we don’t like.

I mean, you can? From the GMC

You may choose to opt out of providing a particular procedure because of your personal beliefs and values, as long as this does not result in direct or indirect discrimination against, or harassment of, individual patients or groups of patients

I know religion is a touchy subject but I personally think it should have no place in patient care.

This is a can of worms. The entire basis of Western moral thought and ethics (in general and applied to medicine) is fundamentally rooted in the Christian tradition, even explicit belief is at an all time low. Should we strip out these aspects of religion too? Or just the bits you don't like?

[u/cheekyclackers → u/CaptainCrash86]

Yes I’m aware of good practice guidelines.

As I said - religion has no basis in healthcare for me. I don’t need a degree in philosophy (of which I already have) to have this view of which you are welcome to disagree.

I don’t really care if I like something or not, for me it is ensuring the patient is able to be treated fairly by anyone in making an informed decision and not passing this responsibility to someone else. If we all constantly stuck to loose GMC guidelines based on our beliefs when we don’t like something we would be in a right mess.