GP Struck Off After Asking Muslim Woman To Remove Veil So He Could Hear Her Properly During Consultation

A GP who was ultimately struck off from the medical register had originally been suspended after asking a Muslim lady to remove her niqab so he could he could hear her properly during a consultation.

Dr Keith Wolverson, who worked as a GP at Royal Stoke University Hospital, asked the woman (referred to as Mrs Q) three times to take off her niqab while she described her daughter’s symptoms.

He told her he couldn’t hear her due to “poor English” and needed to see her mouth movements.

Mrs Q refused for religious reasons but eventually complied; later filing a complaint in which she claimed she felt “victimised and racially discriminated against.”

Wolverson was already facing 17 other misconduct charges (including criticising patients’ English skills in notes).

After returning from suspension, he was found to have worked 17 locum shifts while his original suspension was active in 2022, and so he was suspended again.

In the end, Dr. Wolverson was struck off completely. A panel ruled he showed “flagrant disregard” for the process, failed to change his ways, and posed an ongoing risk to patients.

As you might expect, there are people online complaining about “doctor struck off for not being woke enough.” It’s pretty clear though that Dr. Wolverson was struck off because he would repeatedly break the rules and failed to learn from his mistakes. In particular, secretly working while he was meant to be serving a suspension was a big no-no.

As for the incident with the Muslim woman specifically; according to the General Medical Council, there are only specific medical circumstances where a veil would need to be removed (e.g. to examine a facial injury), and doctors are expected to explore all other communication methods first and sensitively explore the request only if a clear clinical reason exists.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled that the request was “inconsiderate” and failed to respect the patient’s dignity and privacy. Evidence also showed Mrs Q spoke good English and that there was no clinical necessity for the removal of the veil.

For the family GP who beat himself up in order to frame a patient he wanted off the books, click HERE. Lol.