Title: Paramedic Removed From Register After Telling Overweight Patient She Liked Eating Chips

A paramedic has been struck off the medical register after subjecting an overweight patient to a series of cruel and demeaning comments during a phone consultation in July 2020.

Matthew Goodey, who was working as an emergency care practitioner at a GP surgery in Eye, Suffolk, told the patient she liked eating “chips, chips and more chips” and criticised her weight by calling her a “big girl.” He also suggested someone push her in a sack barrow and said, “I bet you were always told to finish your plate.”

The patient, identified only as Service User F, had called with concerns about her leg and foot. She said the comments left her “taken aback and then distracted from concentrating on the rest of the consultation” and that she had depression.

Service User F complained to the surgery the day after the call. A second complaint was made against Mr Goodey in November 2020 after he told another patient, Service User D, that “self-harming won’t kill you but smoking will,” following her disclosure that she had taken up smoking to stop self-harming.

A fitness-to-practise panel ruled that Mr Goodey had bullied not only Service User F but also other patients, leading to his removal from the medical register. The name of the GP practice where he was employed has not been disclosed.

The incident highlights ongoing concerns about weight stigma in healthcare settings and the impact of discriminatory remarks on patient wellbeing, particularly for individuals managing mental health conditions.