Doctor Suspended After 'Extremely Offensive' Facebook Posts Discovered

A Suffolk doctor has been suspended after "extremely offensive" social media posts shared over a three-year span were discovered.

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Dr Islam Mohamed, a Foundation Year Two doctor at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, has had his registration suspended for four weeks after the comments were found on his Facebook page.

The posts, either written or shared by Dr Mohamed, were posted from July 2015 to July 2018 and were publicly visible on his profile.

The comments contain references to a range of topics, including race, paedophilia and terrorism.

Dr Mohamed qualified from Egypt's Suez Canal University in 2015 before gaining his General Medical Council (GMC) registration three years later when he moved to the UK.

His offensive social media posts, which were all made before he registered with the GMC, were first brought to the GMC's attention via email on October 13, 2018.

When the hospital became aware of the posts, Dr Mohamed was suspended pending an investigation.

At a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, Dr Mohamed admitted he had shared the posts but said the jokes and 'memes' were not representative of his beliefs and apologised. Dr Mohamed added that he has since deleted his account.

However, the panel considered them to be "extremely offensive" and his registration was suspended for four weeks.

A spokesman for the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said: "The content of these online postings is deeply offensive and does not reflect what our trust stands for.

"We have robust standards to ensure our trust is inclusive, equal and tolerant.

"The individual has shown remorse for their actions and has reflected and learned from their mistakes, but it is clear they showed a very serious lack of judgement.

"Action was taken following an investigation, but we will be considering the MPTS ruling and any further steps we may need to take."

The tribunal noted comments from patient feedback received that demonstrated the individual worked well with colleagues and patients, and he performed well as a doctor.

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