The Doctors’ Association UK welcomes the resignation of Dr Arvind Madan following the revelation in Pulse magazine that inflammatory comments about GPs were posted by him online under the pseudonym Devil’sAdvocate. We are shocked and disappointed at this apparent lack of integrity from a leader in general practice. Dr Madan’s professed opinion that doctors should be ‘pleased’ to see small practices close was clearly incompatible with his position as director of primary care for NHS England. Communities need both small and large practices, to belittle and undermine them does nothing for morale amongst GPs, at a time when general practice is struggling to recruit and retain enough doctors to provide vital services for their patients. In posting such remarks Dr Madan has lost the confidence of the medical profession and it is only right that he should resign.
