An NHS doctor has been asked to “reflect” on the consequences of her decision to tear a cameraphone out of a videographer’s hand during a protest in Cardiff in April.
On Saturday 11 April several women’s groups banded together under the brand “One Year Later” to mark the anniversary of the For Women Scotland Supreme Court decision in Cardiff’s Central Square.
Dr Sophie Quinney, clinical director of the Welsh Gender Service (WGS), joined a noisy counter-protest at the same location. Quinney took exception to being filmed and attacked the videographer responsible. You can read a fuller version of what happened, and find a link to the video of Quinney here.
Quinney’s behaviour was witnessed by a “retired health professional”, taking part in the One Year Later gathering. They complained about Quinney’s behaviour to the General Medical Council, the independent regulator for doctors in the UK. The complainant said it was “unprofessional for a doctor to be part of a group interfering with women’s rights to freedom of assembly and expression by trying to drown the speakers out and prevent them being heard.”
Send for Perkins
The GMC had a look at the complaint (and the evidence supplied). Molly Perkins, their investigations officer, concluded that whilst Quinney was “clearly there to support people on the Trans rights side of the two opposing groups, the video does not show her shouting or otherwise joining in with the disruptive actions of the group. She is mainly standing to the side leaning on a sign observing proceedings.”
Perkins acknowledges “the video does show Dr Quinney attempting to grab the phone to prevent her being filmed. This could amount to an allegation of assault or battery.” This was referred upwards to the GMC’s Assistant Registrar, who “referred to the guidance for decision makers on low-level violence, and found the guidance shows that this concern can be closed.”
The reasoning was as follows: “The events took place wholly outside Dr Quinney’s professional life. The violent act was limited to a single act of trying to snatch the phone, No weapons, punches or other violent actions were involved, and no physical harm was done to the person filming or the phone.” The Assistant Registrar decided the evidence supplied by the complainant “does not show Dr Quinney to be a current or ongoing risk to public safety or confidence in the profession” and as she “has no previous history relating to allegations of violence” the investigation was over.
That said, the Assistant Registrar also felt it would “be appropriate for Dr Quinney to reflect on the issues raised by her actions. Allegations of violence are serious and could damage public confidence in the profession. Dr Quinney’s Responsible Officer (RO) will be notified of this concern, so that the issue can be reviewed locally as part of her appraisal process. If the RO identifies any further concerns during the doctor’s appraisal, these can be referred to us for consideration.”
Feet to the Fire
In July 2024, NHS Wales ordered a review of Quinney’s Welsh Gender Service in the light of the Cass Review, after a number of complaints made by the families of WGS patients. As of May this year that review still hadn’t started. The same month (with the help of a number of people) I was able to do some number-crunching which revealed that the Welsh Gender Service was referring people for gender surgery at around 3 times the rate per head of population as the wider UK.
The Welsh Conservative Health spokesperson Natasha Asghar was so concerned at this she asked a question in the Welsh Parliament and wrote to the Welsh Health Minister, Mabon ap Gwynfor, asking when the review of the WGS would begin.
Ap Gwynfor replied last month stating that he was “committed to improve gender identity services both for adults and for children and young people” and that the “NHS Joint Commissioning Committee (JCC) will soon undertake a service review of the Wales Gender Service to ensure the model of provision is in line with the latest evidence to inform future improvements.” He also told Asghar his officials “meet with the JCC on a monthly basis for update[s] on this work and other specialised services commissioned by the JCC.”
Asghar told me that “given the recent revelations about the Welsh Gender Service, it is abundantly clear that an independent review is needed into its practices and leadership. Whilst I am pleased that the Welsh Government has now confirmed a review will be carried out, it is imperative that it is thorough and gets underway urgently. I will continue to hold the Plaid Cymru Government’s feet to the fire over this important issue.”
I understand (possibly as a result of Asghar bringing it to the Health Minister’s attention), the review is now imminent, but it is not going to investigate individual complaints, and is unlikely to report before March next year.
I’ve just been informed that today Natasha Asghar had her constituency office windows smashed by a rock. Here’s her post about it:
A small update from my Constituency office. pic.twitter.com/aPINiLZoaB
— Natasha Asghar MS (@natasghar) July 16, 2026
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