Me, Thee and the GMC

In Dr Hopkinson's view, the General Medical Council has failed in its remit to protect patients.

"On Monday 23 March 2020, I was a gullible doctor, and I was an ignorant one regarding unfolding events. I had just watched the Prime Minister announcing measures to combat what could be the biggest threat to UK and world health in my lifetime. Another Spanish flu, or worse, was on the cards. People may die in the streets, as the shocking videos from China (shown on the main news outlets) suggested.

I initially believed every single word that Boris Johnson said. If emergency measures were not put in place, the National Health Service, in which I had worked for nearly forty years, would be overwhelmed. It could collapse. And so, by implication, there would be no-one left to look after us when the virus, a heart attack, an injury, or a drug reaction occurred. How many NHS staff would be left to treat cancers or aid pregnant women?

So I, without questioning, locked down for the next few weeks. And I was deeply concerned, as were all those people I spoke to. The hugely successful media campaign of fear had just been launched, and we are still being bombarded by it today.

But then I realised that the airports were not closed, and millions were arriving from all over the world, including ‘virus central’, Wuhan. Instead of trying to isolate the disease at source, we—the fit—were being quarantined (i.e., locked up like prisoners in our own homes) rather than the sick: a complete reversal of quarantine use which has been known since before Roman times.

My gullibility then started giving way to scepticism and distrust of the Government and its officers. My stupidity I am continually addressing through knowledge acquisition, discussion, and enquiry. This process is ongoing".

Greg Hopkinson MBChB MD FRCS qualified in medicine at Manchester University in the early 1970s. He then trained at several hospitals, mainly in Manchester and the West Midlands. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1978.

Read more of his account here . . .