The GHA says it is “saddened” to learn of some of the negative statements made on social media towards one of a number of GHA PCC GPs who are singled out by name for criticism on a forum “where they cannot respond to defend their reputations for Data Protection reasons.”

The GHA Director General, Prof Patrick Geoghegan, said: “I am sad and disappointed to read such offensive remarks on social media as all of our GP’s do a fantastic job and work under immense pressure. They are all extremely hard working and do not deserve to be subjected to this abuse on social media or anywhere else. We have recently introduced a new pathway for patients which has delivered many more GP appointments so local people in need of medical assistance can have easy access to a service. We are continuously looking at ways to improve how we respond to local demands and welcome comments/feedback. Some of the comments I have read recently on social media are offensive and unacceptable. Any concerns about the attitude of any member of staff should be reported to our PALS department or an official complaint should be raised. The information on how to access these departments are on our website. We have a zero tolerance policy to protect our staff from such abuse and as Director General I will do everything in my power to implement this policy when appropriate. We will not tolerate our professionals being vilified online, where they cannot respond, and have their professional reputations hang out to dry in the Kangaroo Court of social media. We will support our professionals with legal action if necessary to assist them to address these unfair postings and we will be engaging with the administrators of the more popular sites to ensure that such assaults on our professionals reputations are taken down immediately. Complaints should be put through our established professional complaints procedures.”