Refusing to assist in the Prevent training programme

Controversy around the programme may lead to doctors refusing to participate in Prevent training programmes in England and Wales and Scotland.

Legal advice states doctors who refuse to participate in any Prevent training could be penalised or sanctioned, with anything up to disciplinary proceedings.

NHS trusts and other healthcare bodies are entitled to the assistance of their employees in complying with the obligations under the Prevent duty.

The BMA’s representative body passed a motion at ARM 2018 stating that it believes the Prevent programme leads to racial profiling and for the BMA to support doctors who refuse to take part.

In light of the legal advice, we cannot recommend that any members refuse to participate. Any failure or repeated failure to provide assistance risks employees being threatened with disciplinary action.

Guidance for GPs

There is no specific duty for GP practices to undertake Prevent training.

However, Prevent comes under safeguarding. The position is different for services commissioned under the NHS standard contract.

If a practice chooses to meet its safeguarding obligations by undertaking training as set out in the intercollegiate guidance, then it is possible that this will already include/cover Prevent training.

Prevent duty

Healthcare bodies should, in their general duties, have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’ and refer as appropriate.

As the legislation makes clear, the Prevent duty exists in a ‘pre-criminal space’. Its purpose is not to identify those who already present a terrorist threat. It is best understood as part of safeguarding.

Reporting concerns

If you identify individuals who may be at risk of being drawn into terrorism, you should ordinarily refer them to the relevant Prevent lead. Information must be disclosed in accordance with the law and professional duties.

Confidential patient information can be disclosed when one of the following circumstances apply:

• the patient has capacity to consent and consents to the disclosure. This can be either:
   - implied consent for an individual’s direct care; or
   - explicit consent.  

• the law requires disclosure;
• the duty of confidentiality has been set aside under section 251 of the NHS Act 2006; or  
• where there is an overriding public interest, that is, where disclosure is essential to prevent serious harm to the individual or a third party or to prevent or detect a serious crime in accordance with GMC guidance.

Children and young people are owed the same duty of confidentiality as other people. 

Public interest disclosures

Disclosure of confidential information may be justified in the public interest where it is necessary to:

• prevent, detect, or prosecute a serious crime;
• prevent a serious threat to public health or national security; or
• protect individuals or society from serious harm.  

Making or considering a disclosure in the public interest would include circumstances when a healthcare professional is aware of, or has a reasonable belief, that an individual is planning or carrying out terrorist activities or has carried them out in the past.

The BMA's view

We recognise that doctors may have a role in safeguarding vulnerable adults and young people who may be at risk of radicalisation.

In its current form we believe that the Prevent programme leads to racial profiling.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Racism and others have indicated that there is no causal link between the Prevent programme and any change in the level of terrorism or extremism in the UK. 

The programme lacks a convincing evidence base and we have called on the Government to provide evidence of its effectiveness.

We will continue to lobby against the programme on its discriminatory aspects. We have raised concerns in the past, to the Government’s anti-terrorism czar, about the role of doctors under Prevent, but we want to know more about the problems with the current training programme.

If you have evidence of discriminatory aspects of the Prevent training you have received, please get in touch with us so that we can feed these examples into our policy work.