<\/p>\n
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is facing a backlash from members over a controversial partnership with Qatar\u2019s state healthcare provider.<\/p>\n
The college has signed a contract with the state-owned Hamad Medical Corporation to host international exams in Doha, enabling psychiatrists from across the Middle East and beyond to apply for membership.<\/p>\n
But the decision to hold clinical exams in a country with well-documented human rights abuses<\/a> and in which same-sex relationships are criminalised has prompted more than 150 psychiatrists from leading UK hospitals and universities to sign a letter to the president of the college.<\/p>\n \u201cA commercial relationship with Qatar\u2019s public health system, a de facto branch of its government, runs a risk of significant reputational damage to the college,\u201d states the letter, which was sent in September.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen are denied equal rights in a number of domains and there is no legal protection for domestic abuse,\u201d the letter says. \u201cSame-sex sexuality remains legally subject to the death penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n The college already hosts annual exams for international candidates in Singapore, with Qatar being the second international centre, where about 120 candidates are expected to sit the professional exams on 10 to 13 November.<\/p>\n The letter also raises the treatment of migrant workers who make up more than 90% of Qatar\u2019s workforce: \u201cDeaths and injuries of migrant workers prior to the World Cup being held in Qatar in 2022 led to demands for compensation and accusations of worker exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, the Royal College of Psychiatrists said a priority was \u201ctackling inequity and focusing on improving the mental health care of marginalised groups\u201d and that the purpose of holding exams in the Middle East was to provide access to doctors from the global south. It added that it had received supportive feedback from many of its 22,200 members.<\/p>\n Dr Bradley Hillier, a consultant forensic psychiatrist and a signatory to the letter, said: \u201cI am really quite disturbed that the Royal College of Psychiatrists is seemingly entering a business relationship with a [state] that has significant challenges around human rights. It seems so evidently in conflict with the college\u2019s position and values and its history.\u201d<\/p>\n Hillier added that it was hard to envisage how mental health issues relating to gender dysphoria, HIV status or experiences of homophobia would be navigated. The exams involve candidates carrying out mock consultations with actors playing the role of patients and are designed to assess how a doctor would perform in a real-world setting.<\/p>\n The college said the content and delivery of the exam in Doha would meet the same standards, values and scrutiny as exams held in the UK and Singapore, and would include competency in addressing mental health problems experienced by LGBTQ+ patients.<\/p>\n Prof Annie Bartlett, professor of offender healthcare at City St George\u2019s University, London, said she welcomed the college expanding international access to its exams, but added: \u201cThere are lots of countries that you could have chosen that would avoid issues of women\u2019s rights, migrant workers and the death penalty on the statute for certain same-sex practices.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a mistake,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n