Christian magistrate removed from office, suspended from British NHS trust
Three weeks after his removal from the post of magistrate because of his view on same-sex couples adopting kids, Richard Page was suspended as non-executive director of NHS Trust.
"We can confirm that we have suspended Richard Page from Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust Board. Our decision follows Mr Page being removed from the magistracy after the public comments he made about single sex adopters," a spokesperson told Christian Today.
Page's removal as magistrate by the Lord Chancellor and subsequent suspension from the NHS stems from an issue wherein the other magistrates deemed that it was in the best interest of a child to be put under the care of a same-sex couple, a view that Page did not share. He was reprimanded and placed in diversity training, but his view did not change even after several months. He expressed this during an interview with "BBC Breakfast" this month, saying that there was not enough evidence to convince him.
"My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adopted parents," he said during the interview.
Andrew Ling, the chair of the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, said, as quoted by Christian Today, "The recent publicity you have courted is likely to further undermine the confidence staff, particularly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered staff, have in the leadership of the trust. Links between the stigma often associated with being LGBT and poor mental health are well established."
NHS provides services in Kent and Medway concerning learning disability, mental health and substance misuse. Ling, who recommended for Page's suspension, said that patients have to feel confident that the trust would treat everyone equally and fairly, and that there would be no discrimination.
"My seat on the NHS trust came as a result of my long service in mental health and total commitment to the NHS – none of that has changed," said Page, who is suing the Lord Chancellor Michael Gove with the help of the Christian Legal Center. "The trust says in his letter that it is committed to 'challenge discrimination and treat everyone fairly and impartially' – all evidence to the contrary! What about treating my views, held by billions of Christians around the world, equally and fairly?"
