Muslim GPs: Chapter and Verse

What Patricia Hewitt said:

I have had Muslim women give me chapter and verse on very distressing breaches of confidentiality by Muslim GPs.

A Department of Health press release later rolled back with this clarification:

Evidence from an independent report from the Muslim Women's Network on Health has suggested that some Muslim women in some parts of the country are not going to see their GP because they are nervous about reporting certain problems. 

This is not a direct accusation against Muslim GPs - it is a call for sensitivity from all parts of the health service. All patients should be reassured that GPs must adhere to strict standards on professional regulation.

So from being an issue of breaches of professional conduct by GPs based on their faith, Hewitt goes on later to say it's actually an issue whereby Muslim women feel uncomfortable in going to GPs of the same background as them. Understandable - people from all sorts of backgrounds feel better talking to complete strangers about private matters whether they be of a medical, legal or financial nature.

The DoH press release as above also mentioned the Muslim Women's Network report. It does back up the contention that there is nervousness in dealing with people you know. It does not however back up Hewitt's initial claim of specific breaches (the only such case it does mention involves a Hindu GP). She is thus effectively claiming that women feel more comfortable talking to her about problems with their GPs than the General Medical Council or indeed the Muslim Women's Network whose detailed report did not uncover this nugget. We must also assume that this is a widespread problem among Muslim GPs, else why else should Hewitt bring this to everyone's attention.

The case involving the Hindu GP betrays that this is not about faith. It's about doctors who know the patients they are dealing with. This could affect any GP whatever their faith or ethnic origin. It is not as if a white GP who converted to Islam would feel the need to divulge his or her patient's details.

The reality, depite claiming "chapter and verse" is that Hewitt's initial comments were glib ones which charitably we could say were not thought through. She should apologise for that otherwise the less charitable interpretation is that they were absolutely thought through.

Comments

[Yakoub Islam]

A number of years ago, I was temporarily seperated from my wife and during that time I had some personal problems which I shared with my GP. Living in a village, it didn't take long for my GP to bump into my wife at the bus stop - from whom I was seperated (as he well knew) - only for him to discuss these problems with her, in public. Even if we hadn't been seperated, it would have been a breach of confidentiality. He was a born again Christian, I was Muslim. The problem was small village, GP with a big mouth (and a big head to match) and (my wife detected plainly from his comments) Islamophobia. I wonder if Patricia would like to announce that to the papers?

[aineliva]

Whatever the overall facts of this issue, regarding Patricia Hewitt's quote, "I have had Muslim women give me chapter and verse on very distressing breaches of confidentiality by Muslim GPs", this really has more to do with the attitude of the male in a particular culture, not their religion.

And yes, Osama, you are right, religion is not the issue, it's more likely to be male chauvinism, and the attitude of said men to the women of their community, and the attitude of the community itself, policing the behaviour of one particular gender for fear of dishonour; and strangely enough this is a practice that can be found community wide in the the UK and Europe; and whilst some communities are moving away from those practices, some are clinging to them as though to a life-raft.

Why the need for an apology from Hewitt? Perhaps those whose cultural practices infringe on the civil liberties and rights of women should apologise for their abuse of power, turn over a new leaf, integrate into the values of European society and look to their own behaviour.

And I could just add to that, we have in Western Europe something called the seperation of Church and State; however since that does not exist in Islamic tradition, or is not seen as an important issue, how is Patricia Hewitt supposed to be able to seperate one from tother and make the point she was trying to? Suggestions would make this criticism on such a point more constructive.

[joe90]

..seperation of Church and State..

- so the Queen isn't the head of the British state and the head of the Church of England then?

There are no Church of England clergy in the House of Lords then?

Church of England clergy aren't chosen by the British government or fellow aristocratic landowners then?

When was the Church of England dis-established then, verbaldiarrheia?
(sorry to ask you about the real world outside of your head, I know its your only weakness as a thinker)

[joe90]

As there is nothing to really seperate the main two British political parties on issues of any real substance,
then it is second nature that professional career politicians will use race-ethnicity-immigrants-outsiders-scapegoats to provide shallow catchy headlines to distract the general public from the real issues of the day.

The real issue being that there is no real democracy in Britian - there is neither a real 'Opposition' in the British Parliament and neither do the main parties properly represent the views of British people on anything that actually matters to the general public.

The British government today is very much like the ones in inter-war Wiemer Germany and Germany under Hitler - they all used weak ethnic minorities to blame for any, or all, the problems and use them as scapegoats to distract attention away from the real source of the problems.

I do think it quite significant that New Labour are actually attacking the integrity of a high-profile professional class here. This reminds me of the attacks on German Jewish folk in the professional classes in Weimer-Hitler Germany.

All the best!

ps
I see verbaldiarrhia
thinks it's us menfolk who should be apologising because she and Hewitt happen to be women, or something(?) -

- isn't it Hewitt who is responsible for butchering 100s of 1000s of Afghani and Iraqi women and girls then, after all Hewitt is part of the British government who are genocidal war criminals?

- isn't it Hewitt, a member of the British Cabinet government, who hepled in last summer's attack on millions of Lebanese women and girls by Isreal?

- and isn't it Hewitt, and her government, who help make the lives of millions of Palestinian women and girls a living hell?

verbaldiarrhia,
is a big fan of violent sectarian bigots and terrorists that she likes to call 'men of honour' -
- also, verbaldiarrhia thinks a racist war criminal like Hewitt is the victim of us males and our oppression !

[aineliva]

Isn't it............ just possible that you feel so provoked and angry when people don't see things your way......

[joe90]

You are unable to answer reasonable questions, unable to stick to the point, or making any sense, or even know what you're talking about -
- or is this too obvious for you,
mrs terrorist-loving irish sectarian bigot and big fan of British female racist mass-murderers and war criminals?

Still, mustn't get too reasonable or you might send your 'men of honour' out to kill me and my neighbours -
- I thought being emotional was supposed to be a female atrribute as well, or is that just in the real world?

Tell me again mrs sectarian bigot (who has now given up her self-proclaimed wacky sense of humour and is now claiming she's un-emotional because emotion is now bad),
when was the Church of England dis-established?

Or even,
when did Islam become a big part of the Egyptian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian, Algerian, Morocco, Indonesian governments (just to name a few nominally Islamic countries)?

And what is the connection with these nonsensical points you brought up, and the point of Osama's article - any idea?

[aineliva]

Joe, when you wrote this, I think you could have been describing yourself: "You are unable to answer reasonable questions, unable to stick to the point, or making any sense, or even know what you're talking about".

Although I would also say that your questions are often unreasonable and there is no compuction on anyone to answer, is there?

[joe90]

Joe, when you wrote this..
- all of 17 hours before you wrote you hopless reply, mrs terrywogania - well in little ol' oireland of the little people, begorra, time goes fast, bejesus begob so it does....blarney blarney blah blah

Anybody would think that -
- not only do you know next to nothing about the British state and religion, the Catholic view of 'heresy', Islam and state governments etc etc on and on -
- but that you actually think that a sectarian terrorist loving irish bigot bigmouth scumbag like you, is reasonable and worth listening to!

[aineliva]

Anybody? No Joe dearest, only you. Perhaps you'd like to back up your "racist stereotypical" views of we Irish with some "verifiable facts and empirical evidence", now where would you find that?

Only you are the biggest gobshite this blog has ever seen.

Do hope you are able to find a really good "verbal scrap" to keep you occupied, and your "rage-a-holic addiction" satisified over the week end.

Did you say that you have some connection with a Palestinian Support Organisation that collects finance to support Palestinian people on the streets of Glasgow or Edinburgh? I wonder if those of Irish descent would be interested to know of your so Politically Correct views re the Irish.

I must drop a line to Vanessa and have her come here and see how your compassion is so short-lived when it comes to the Irish...

[joe90]

This is from a self-confessed sectarian irish bigot who refers to scumbags who blow innocent people to bits as 'men of honour' -

- and has also slagged me off for being a man, Scottish, left-wing etc etc on and on - despite the fact I didn't usually respond to her silly little childish provocations, and have only recently decided to show her up for the ignorant irish sectarian bigot that she undoubtedly is, begob!

That's what I love about bigoted sectarian hypocrites pulling tantrums, bejesus, they can dish it out but they can't take it, begorra!

[ainelivia]

Anybody? No Joe dearest, only you. Perhaps you'd like to back up your "racist stereotypical" views of we Irish with some "verifiable facts and empirical evidence", now where would you find that?

Only you are the biggest gobshite this blog has ever seen.

Do hope you are able to find a really good "verbal scrap" to keep you occupied, and your "rage-a-holic addiction" satisified over the week end.

Did you say that you have some connection with a Palestinian Support Organisation that collects finance to support Palestinian people on the streets of Glasgow or Edinburgh? I wonder if those of Irish descent would be interested to know of your so Politically Correct views re the Irish.

I must drop a line to Vanessa and have her come here and see how your compassion is so short-lived when it comes to the Irish...

You're not Scottish Joe, you couldn't be, most of my Scots relatives have more sense thatn to spend their lives constantly involved in verbal scraps that are really not their affair, they are very frugal with their energy. Slan

[joe90]

Who is this 'Vanessa', airheada?

Your 6 foot white invisble rabbit friend perhaps!

[ainelivia]

No, that's Harvey, ........

[smudge]

erm, bringing things back to the article...ummahpulse.com has done an excellent article on this