A GP has spoken out and said she was bullied and harassed out of her NHS job after raising concerns over a transgender colleague's practice.
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she → speak → practice
Dr Sarah Redvers, who was a safeguarding GP responsible for protecting gender distressed children receiving NHS treatment in Sussex, claimed she was accused of transphobia after reporting Brighton GP and lead clinician Dr Sam Hall.
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she → safeguard → GP
She had brought a claim for constructive dismissal against NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board.
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She → bring → Board
The tribunal heard that Dr Redvers first raised concerns in July 2020 over Dr Hall giving puberty blockers to under-18s.
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Hall → hear → under-18s
Those concerns were investigated, but NHS England concluded it was satisfied with the care provided by Dr Hall.
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it → investigate → Hall
However, six years later, multiple failings affecting up to 78 children at Dr Hall's practice were uncovered in a separate report.
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failings → affect → report
Dr Redvers' initial concerns came about after a gender distressed 18-year-old female patient had gone to an online clinic registered overseas, wanting them to take over prescribing testosterone.
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them → come → testosterone
Dr Redvers also discovered that such prescriptions had been given by Brighton GP and lead clinician Dr Hall.
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prescriptions → discover → GP
Dr Hall is a transgender man who qualified as a GP in 2019 and is a well-known campaigner for trans rights in Brighton.
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who → qualify → Brighton
Dr Sarah Redvers resigned following a probe into her after she raised concerns about the treatment of vulnerable gender distressed patients
Dr Sam Hall made a complaint that he was being 'victimised' by the investigations into his practice to the then-CEO of NHS Sussex
He also was a lead clinician at Brighton's WellBN practice, where he worked with the NHS locally to set up a Trans Health Hub and with Brighton trans support charity The Clare Project.
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he → resign → charity
Dr Hall had spoken publicly about his belief in 'affirmative care' - meaning supporting a gender distressed patient by accepting rather than challenging their preferred gender and tailoring treatment from that philosophy.
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Hall → speak → philosophy
Dr Redvers heard the concerns over the treatment of the vulnerable 18-year-old patient and made a complaint to NHS England (NHSE) as a whistleblower.
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Redvers → hear → whistleblower
NHSE investigated and said it was 'satisfied' with Dr Hall's practice.
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it → investigate → practice
But more complaints about Dr Hall's practice followed in the months after.
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complaints → follow → months
Several GPs came to Dr Redvers reporting their worries over the quality of assessments, the prescription of puberty blocking drugs and cross sex hormones, and the lack of specialist supervision at the WellBN clinic where Dr Hall was based.
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Hall → come → clinic
A second NHS investigation was launched, considering the 'full scope' of Dr Hall's work.
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investigation → launch → work
Dr Redvers said she was told by the investigator that there was a 'general worry' that there 'would be allegations of transphobia'.
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she → say → transphobia
The investigation concluded again that there was no cause for concern and also stated that there was 'one colleague whose persistent interest in the issue appeared disproportionate' - which Dr Redvers took to refer to her.
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Redvers → conclude → her
Adam Doyle was the chief executive of NHS Sussex at the time of Dr Hall's complaint, which launched a probe into Dr Redvers
Speaking out publicly for the first time, Dr Redvers described a suggestion of transphobia as 'appalling' and 'dangerous'.
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Redvers → launch → transphobia
She told the BBC: 'It's about medical assessment and treatment of patients, which is something we have to get right, particularly in this complex group of vulnerable patients.'
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we → tell → patients
While she was awaiting the outcome of the second investigation, Dr Redvers heard another report of concerns about the care of a vulnerable 15-year-old.
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Redvers → await → old
She decided to refer Dr Hall to the medical regulator, the GMC.
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She → decide → regulator
Dr Hall responded by emailing Adam Doyle, the then-CEO of NHS Sussex, directly to complain.
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Hall → respond → Sussex
He wrote: 'I am being victimised here, and I need proper protection from this individual and their repeated attempts to disrupt my career.
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I → write → career
Although Mr Doyle initially told the tribunal that he did not know Dr Hall before his email, it later emerged that he had previously met with him on a number of occasions for mentoring meetings.
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he → tell → meetings
The GMC investigation was not taken forward - but the NHS launched an investigation into Dr Redvers, bringing an external investigator in to carry this out.
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NHS → take → this
The tribunal heard that she was then subjected to a four-hour interrogation, which she described as 'brutal' and 'oppressive and very upsetting'.
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she → hear → which
Dr Redvers broke down at one point and was off work for several months afterwards, receiving treatment for trauma.
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Redvers → break → trauma
Her fellow colleagues, who were interviewed as part of the probe into Dr Redvers, also complained about the investigation process - with the NHS upholding most of their complaints.
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NHS → interview → complaints
The investigation concluded that CEO Doyle and the NHS trust should apologise to Dr Redvers, warning that her treatment when bringing forward concerns about Dr Hall would have a 'broader negative impact' on the willingness of staff to raise any concerns they held.
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they → conclude → concerns
A year after the outcome of the probe into Dr Redvers, a trans campaigner suggested in an NHS meeting that she was transphobic, the tribunal heard.
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tribunal → suggest → meeting
Dr Redvers said she felt, by this point, that the NHS did not do enough to support her, deciding to leave her job as a safeguarding GP.
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NHS → say → GP
As Dr Redvers left, a group made up of parents, school governors and social workers began raising concerns about WellBN and Dr Hall.
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group → leave → WellBN
In June 2026, six years after Dr Redvers first raised concerns, a separate NHS safety investigation found that up to 78 children, some as young as 13, had been inappropriately prescribed drugs at the WellBN practice - the clinic where Dr Hall worked.
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Hall → raise → practice
The report found dozens of children had potentially been harmed by taking puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones drugs - prescribed to them without proper checks.
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dozens → find → checks
Dr Hall resigned from his role as a GP and as lead clinician at the WellBN practice in June 2025 amid the ongoing NHSE probe into the practice.
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Hall → resign → practice
In a statement, NHS Surrey and Sussex said: 'We engaged professionally and supportively with the Employment Tribunal.
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We → say → Tribunal
We recognise that some employment processes should have been handled differently and have apologised whilst Dr Redvers was employed with us, before, and during the hearings.
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Redvers → recognise → hearings
We await the findings of the tribunal to make any further comment.'
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We → await → comment
NHS England said: 'When concerns about prescribing practices by an individual GP were escalated to NHS England national directors in 2023, they met directly with an affected family and asked regional professional standards leads to undertake formal investigations.
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they → say → investigations
…and 2 more, not listed.
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