Patients have reacted with horror as a doctor exposed as the former leader of a jihadi organisation was allowed back to work as a GP in north London by the NHS.
A patient who has been with the practice for ten years, who asked not to be named, said that Dr Shaida’s links with the Islamist terror group Hizb ut-Tahrir “changed my opinion of the surgery. It is terrible.”
The patient added, "I would not want him to treat me now. You would wonder what he was really thinking.”
Another patient, who has an appointment with the doctor on Monday, told the JC: “I’m not so sure about going now, I might ring up and ask to see someone else.”
Another patient described the doctor as “unsettling”. A female patient said she was alarmed by the decision to reinstate the doctor and said: “People are just going to ring up and ask for another GP.”
In October, Dr Wahid Asif Shaida led anti-Israel protests where there were shouts of “jihad” and he described the October 7 massacre as “a welcome punch on the nose”.
Jewish organisations have sounded alarm over the decision by NHS England to lift Dr Wahid Asif Shaida’s suspension. The Board Deputies said the move was “of deep concern”, while the Campaign Against Antisemitism said the NHS had “lost its mind”.
Dr Wahid Asif Shaida – who has been described as the ‘jihad GP’ – led the UK outfit of the now-banned radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. He was suspended by NHS England when the group was proscribed on January 19.
At the time, the NHS cited the doctor’s association with an organisation that “supports antisemitic beliefs and encouraged acts of terrorism” and raised "potential fitness to practise concerns”.
Despite an ongoing investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC), which maintains the UK’s official register of doctors, NHS England has overturned Dr Shaida’s suspension, saying there was “insufficient evidence” to suggest he was unfit for medical practice. He returned to work as a family GP in Harrow this week.
Several patients at Dr Shaida’s GP Direct surgery on Welbeck Road told the JC that they would be requesting another GP for their future appointments and it was “terrible” that the doctor was returning to work.
Dr Shaida's surgery on a leafy street in north London will welcome him back this month
Dr Shaida chaired the UK operation of Hizb ut-Tahrir under the pseudonym Abdul Wahid until it was banned as a terror group. The jihadi organisation aims to create a global Islamist caliphate, has made calls to “wipe out that Zionist entity” and referred to “the monstrous Jews”. It has proposed the death penalty for LGBT+ people and women who have sex outside of marriage.
The group mobilised after October 7, praising the Hamas attack as having “ignited a wave of joy and elation among Muslims globally”.
Its members attended a rally outside the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in London, where Dr Shaida told the crowd: “Victory is coming and everyone has to choose a side. Whose side are you going to be on?” Other members called for “Muslim armies” to attack Israel and said the Hamas attack “made us all very, very happy”.
Dr Shaida described the Hamas attack on October 7 as “a punch on the nose” for the “enemy”. During an appearance on Talk TV, the doctor was asked by Piers Morgan if he would condemn the massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians, he said: “I will defend the right of the Palestinians to resist occupation.”
When he was asked who he believed to be responsible for the deaths on October 7, Dr Shaida claimed that Israel “are the ones responsible.” He later refused to describe Hamas as a terror group, declaring “I believe it is a resistance organisation,” before finally admitting civilians did die and claiming: “They were killed by people who were resisting an occupation.”
Dr Shaida also told Morgan that Sharia law was “the best” system of governance and insisted: “The Islamic standard of law should be the standard of law in the country.”
In a statement shared on his Facebook page the day that author Salmon Rushdie was stabbed multiple times in an attempted murder attack, Shaida said: “The extent of the love of Muslims worldwide for the Messenger of Allah cannot be explained or quantified... I doubt you will find anyone who loves him feeling sympathy for someone who insulted him.”
The doctor, who has over 30 years of experience in the NHS, was reported to the GMC for his comments about Hamas and was suspended by NHS England.
Following an NHS investigation and panel hearing on July 11, NHS England concluded, “No evidence was found that he has had involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir since the organisation was proscribed.”
President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Philip Rosenberg, said the lifting of the suspension was “of deep concern to many British Jews.
“As a man who described the October 7 mass terror attack by Hamas as ‘a welcome punch on the nose’, who refused to describe it as terrorism and cast doubt on the mass atrocities carried out on that terrible day, he has no place practising medicine.” Rosenberg added, “he has no place in any position of authority within society.”
A spokesperson for the CST said, “Dr Shaida has a long history of involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an openly antisemitic and extremist organisation. It will undoubtedly be alarming for patients to hear that his suspension has been lifted by the NHS.”
David Katz from the Jewish Medical Association submitted one of the complaints against Dr Shaida and told the JC: “We are disturbed that he can now work as an NHS GP. The things that worried us about him - the hate speech, including welcoming October 7 - remain the same.
“It is disappointing and disturbing that NHS England has done this: he should still be suspended pending the GMC investigation. They should reinstate the suspension.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism commented "Has the NHS lost its mind? Dr Wahid Shaida referred to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks as 'resistance' and then denied that they even occurred.
"How are British Jews supposed to feel when the next time that they have a GP appointment, it could now be with such a man?” The spokesperson said CAA would be writing to NHS England and the GMC about “this shocking decision.”
In a statement from the London Jewish Forum, co-chairs Amanda Bowman and Michael Ziff said Dr Shaida’s actions were “appalling and deeply troubling” and his patients “may now fear that his extremist beliefs could influence the care they receive”.
Dr Shaida seemed to lead two lives: he worked in the NHS for over 30 years and under a different name headed up the UK outfit of a terror group that wants to create a global Islamist caliphate
Concerns have been raised that Dr Shaida’s radical ideology is inseparable from his NHS practice. Human rights activist Peter Tatchell said, “the group’s political and religious ideology is so extreme, and they openly declare that it guides their personal and public life, it is hard to imagine that this doctor would not allow his fanatical religious views to impact the way he treats patients, especially women, LGBT+, Hindu and Jewish people.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir is working towards the establishment of a global religious dictatorship where everyone would be subject to its extreme interpretation of Sharia - that is very bad news for Jewish people and LGBT+ people and Muslims who fail to adhere to Hizb ut-Tahrir's extremist interpretations of Islam,” Tatchell went on.
Despite these concerns, an NHS spokesman said there was “insufficient evidence to warrant removing Dr Shaida from the performers’ list.” They added, “We take any issues relating to professional conduct seriously and have procedures in place to make sure that individuals are fit to work in the NHS”.
The NHS said that conditions would be imposed “to manage a safe return to practice, for both staff and patients”. It is unclear what these conditions are, but several patients said they do not want Dr Shaida to treat them.
Jewish organisations have called Dr Shaida's return to NHS practice "disturbing"
A GMC spokesperson said: "We are fully aware of the concerns that have been raised regarding Dr Wahid Asif Shaida, and are looking into this.
“We consider all concerns that are raised with us and we take this responsibility very seriously. We thoroughly investigate concerns that suggest patient safety or the public’s confidence in doctors may be at risk and we take action where it is necessary.”
Dr Shaida raised more than £50,000 for “legal assistance” in his case, and was represented by Rahman Lowe Solicitors who declared “victory” for him on Monday.
Dr Shaida’s lawyers have been approached for comment.
On his Crowdjustice page, where he has raised over £50,000 towards his legal defence, the doctor says he is “a family man, a community man, a GP for over 25 years - and active politically outside of work”.
He added that his previous suspension and investigation “came after a political affiliation which had previously been lawful, was suddenly made unlawful”.
