Christian Doctor Could Lose Job for Praying with Patient

A Christian doctor in the United Kingdom who often prayed with his patients is under investigation and could lose his job for the spiritual practice. 

Richard Scott, a 58-year-old general practitioner, often prays with patients who suffer from depression, anxiety or addition, The Sunday Times reported. 

But the General Medical Council (GMC), an organization that oversees and licenses doctors, is now investigating Scott based on a complaint from a patient who reportedly felt uncomfortable and vulnerable by his praying. NHS England, which leads the National Health Service system, also is investigating him.

“They are kowtowing to aggressive secularism,” he told the newspaper. “Public safety is what they are there for [but] they are suddenly turned it into a big case.” 

Scott serves at Bethesda Medical Centre in the town of Margate, about 80 miles east of London.

The U.K.-based National Secular Society (NSS) had told the General Medical Council in May that a “highly vulnerable” patient felt “discomfort at the use of prayer,” The Telegraph newspaper reported. The NSS complaint said Scott was warned previously about “expressing his religious beliefs in a way that distressed a ‘psychologically troubled’ patient.”

Scott maintains that his actions benefit patients. 

“The NSS is obviously gunning for me – and would like me to lose my job because…