Doctor let off with warning after 'utterly vile' jokes about Jews being gassed

A junior NHS doctor has avoided being struck off after he joked about "gassing the jews" and said videos denying the Holocaust were "pretty convincing". Dr Martin Whyte has been let off with just a warning after he was suspended in 2023 over a number of "utterly vile" tweets, which included referring to Jewish people as "Jew banker goblins" and calling for people to boycott Israel "out of spite".

After an investigation, the General Medical Council (GMC) said that while his social media posts were "grossly offensive" they fall "just short of that which would be considered serious enough to pose a risk to public protection". A committee ruled that Dr Whyte's, a former executive member of the British Medical Association's (BMA), comments were not "intentionally antisemitic". The junior doctor remains employed by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as a specialist trainee in paediatrics.

He has been let off with a "formal warning", which said: "On 18 April 2018, 27 October 2018 and 23 November 2018 Dr Whyte posted comments on Twitter (now known as X) which were grossly offensive.

"This conduct does not meet the standards required of a doctor. It risks bringing the profession into disrepute and it must not be repeated."

In a tweet about the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack, where 11 people were killed, the doctor wrote: "hahaha zeig hail hahaha gas the jews hahaha just kidding but have you seen these YouTube videos about the holohoax they're pretty convincing imo [in my opinion]..."

He also said that year: "Me: It's important to represent Judaism and Jewish people fairly and respectfully in art.

Also me: Jew banker goblins."

In response to his comments, a BMA spokesperson confirmed he had been removed from "any and all BMA business", the Daily Mail reports. They said there was "absolutely no place in the BMA for antisemitism."

A GMC spokesperson said: "We carried out a full and thorough investigation into Dr. Martin Whyte's social media posts. After hearing the evidence, an investigation committee found his posts were grossly offensive.

They decided a formal warning was necessary to uphold confidence in the profession. It will appear on the doctor's online record for two years and must be disclosed to any potential employers.

"A warning is a formal, significant disciplinary action on a doctor's registration."

Just last month, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed there will be an "urgent review" into anti-Semitism after "recent incidents of anti-Semitism from doctors, which drew stark attention to problems of culture and the regulation in the health system".

Another junior doctor in the NHS recently avoided punishment after she referred to Hamas as "martyrs", made a "slit your throat" gesture to Jewish protesters and claimed the Holocaust was "fabricated".

The new crackdown will see every NHS staff member undergo compulsory training on anti-Semitism and anti-racism.