Doctors are to be drafted into the fight against terrorism by being asked to identify patients at risk of being drawn into violent extremism. The controversial move will be spelt out today by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, as she publishes the Government’s much-delayed strategy for combating extremism.
Plans to ask medical professionals to alert authorities about people vulnerable to radicalisation will alarm doctors’ groups, amid fears it could erode patient confidentiality.
See also the Daily Telegraph, 7 June 2011
The Guardian quotes a spokesperson for the British Medical Association as saying: “Doctors cannot look into the future and say how someone might behave. This would threaten the trust of the doctor and … patient relationship. A doctor’s role is to treat the patient in front of them, not predict how the patient will behave in future.”