While it's true that everyone makes mistakes, a criminal mistake is different. A criminal conviction affects career potential and there's a huge risk that you will lose your job. However, at least 1,000 doctors in the UK who have criminal convictions are still allowed to practice.
According to Daily Mail Online, disgraced doctors are still allowed to practice, making campaigners furious. There are about 1,067 registered doctors with criminal convictions - that's an accumulated 1,181 crimes between them. These crimes include possession of indecent pictures of children, sexual assault, soliciting for the purpose of prostitution, cruelty and neglect of children, threats to kill and death by careless driving.
Patients Should Not Be Kept In The Dark, Campaigners Say
This revelation shocks millions of patients who completely trust their doctors. Campaigners say that patients should not be kept in the dark, and that the public has every right to know about doctors and their previous convictions. In the past two years, the number of convicted doctors has risen by 38, however, in the past year, only 13 doctors were removed from the medical register, The Sun reported.
The General Medical Council said that two years ago, they were looking for a way to ban doctors guilty of serious crimes - including sex offenses - automatically without a hearing. 53-year-old Steven Burn, a consultant cardiologist, was found with 65 child abuse images on his work computer, however, he was still allowed to keep his job. He was given a chance to resume his 28-year-old career after he insisted he would "rather die than reoffend."
In A Lot Of Cases, Convicted Doctors Are Only Banned Temporarily
Magda Taylor, of patients' group The Informed Parent, said: "To my mind, someone [like Dr Steven Burn], should never be reinstated." She added that convicted doctors like Burn should find another profession.
UK law states that doctors who receive a caution or conviction must attend the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) - the disciplinary arm which hears all cases pursued by the General Medical Council. But in a lot of cases, convicted doctors are only banned temporarily, or are still allowed to continue practice.
