Royal College of Psychiatrists faces member backlash over Qatar partnership | Psychiatry

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is facing a backlash from its members over a controversial partnership with Qatar’s state healthcare provider.

The college signed a contract with the state-owned Hamad Medical Corporation to host international exams in Doha, allowing psychiatrists from the Middle East and beyond to apply for membership.

But the decision to hold a clinical exam in a country where human rights abuses are well documented and same-sex relations are criminalized has led more than 150 psychiatrists from Britain’s leading hospitals and universities to sign a letter to the college president.

“A commercial relationship with the public healthcare system, which is a de facto arm of Qatar’s government, risks serious damage to the university’s reputation,” the letter, sent in September, states.

“Women are not granted equal rights in many areas and there is no legal protection against domestic abuse,” the letter says. “Homosexual sexuality remains legally subject to the death penalty.”

The college currently hosts annual exams for international candidates in Singapore; Qatar is the second international hub, where around 120 candidates are expected to take professional exams between 10 and 13 November.

The letter also raises the issue of the treatment of migrant workers, who make up more than 90% of Qatar’s workforce: “Deaths and injuries of migrant workers ahead of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 have led to claims for compensation and accusations of worker exploitation.”

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said in a statement that the priority was “to tackle inequality and focus on improving mental health care for marginalized groups” and that the aim of holding exams in the Middle East was to provide access to doctors in the global south. He added that he had received supportive feedback from many of its 22,200 members.

The consultant who signed the letter is forensic psychiatrist Dr. Bradley Hillier said: “I am really quite disturbed that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has entered into an apparent employment relationship. [state] A country with significant human rights challenges. “This situation clearly contradicts the position, values ​​and history of the university.”

Hillier added that it’s difficult to predict how to navigate mental health issues related to gender dysphoria, HIV status, or experiences of homophobia. The exams involve candidates conducting mock interviews with actors playing the role of patients and are designed to evaluate how a doctor would perform in a real-world setting.

The college said the content and delivery of the exam in Doha will meet the same standards, values ​​and scrutiny as exams held in the UK and Singapore, and will include proficiency in addressing mental health issues experienced by LGBTQ+ patients.

Professor of criminal health at City St George’s University in London. Annie Bartlett said she welcomed the university’s expansion of international access to exams, but added: “There are plenty of countries to choose from that will avoid death penalty issues in the law on women’s rights, migrant workers and some homosexual practices.”

“I think it was a mistake,” he said.

One of the signatories, Prof Michael Bloomfield, consultant psychiatrist and head of the translational psychiatry research group at University College London, described the partnership as “completely morally unacceptable”.

“It is extremely sad that we are in this situation where our university has chosen to operate in a constitutionally homophobic country,” he said.

The university announced the collaboration earlier this year as part of efforts to expand access to its exams for psychiatrists abroad.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said in a statement: “Our approach is non-discriminatory and evidence-based; we deliberately avoid the colonialist mentality of selectively deciding who we do and do not work with. We are guided by medical need, working with doctors, not governments. Our decisions will always be guided by our values ​​and will be consistent with the Charity Commission’s expectations.”