BMA concerned over arrangements designed to keep firearms away from those deemed medically unfit to have them

Hard-pressed GPs lack the resources to deal with new firearm licensing arrangements designed to keep guns out of the hands of those medically unfit to have access to them, doctors have warned.

The British Medical Association annual conference in Belfast on Wednesday comfortably passed a motion expressing its concerns over the changes in gun licensing introduced in April.

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The motion said the changes place undue burden on practices to report on every application for a gun licence, leaves the element of discretion too broad in reporting depression, and places the GP in the vulnerable position of having to decide when to report any deterioration in the health of a patient flagged on their notes as a firearms holder. The question of whether to charge a fee for the service is also an issue.

Under the changes, police will contact the GP of all those who apply for a firearm certificate to check whether there is a history of conditions including depression and dementia. Previously, police only contacted an individual’s GP before the issue of a firearm certificate if an applicant declared a relevant medical condition. The new referral system was drawn up after consultations between the police, the Home Office, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the BMA and shooting associations. Police will have the final say on who is issued a firearms certificate.

“Under the old system, GPs were asked, ‘do you have concerns?’ after licences were given, which is a bit like closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted,” said Dr John Canning, a Middlesbrough-based GP. “Now GPs are contacted at the application process.”

But Canning said GP involvement in the new licensing arrangements imposed further burdens on already hard-pressed surgeries. “Their priority is to manage the illness of patients,” said Canning, who estimated the checks could take as long as six patient appointments.

GPs have also been told to keep a record of patients who own a gun – and to inform police if any of these develop mental health problems such as depression. Practices are supposed to have a reminder on the patient record so that the GP is aware the person is a firearms certificate holder. Some doctors argue that most GPs are not suitably qualified to diagnose a personality disorder.

A doctors’ group in Devon has issued a template letter for practices to turn down requests for information on firearms licence applications. The template, from the Devon local medical committee (LMC) states that GPs do not have the expertise to diagnose a personality disorder, described as the “major clinical issue giving rise to the improper use of firearms”.

Dr Mark Sanford-Wood, who drafted the template letter, told the Pulse website for health professionals that LMC produced the letter because “our members are at really significant risk if they try to offer an opinion that they’re not qualified to offer”.

He added: “I understand that if that letter is used in any kind of widespread way across the country that this system that was introduced on 1 April will collapse ... but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.”

The changes in the firearms licensing arrangements followed recommendations about the need for better provisions to be in place between police and GPs after several shootings. They included an incident in Peterlee, County Durham in 2012, when a man – a licensed holder of firearms – shot himself after killing three women from the same family.