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A GP who faces losing his job for asking a Muslim mum to lift her veil has revealed he plans to quit due to the 'major injustice' of the investigation.

Dr Keith Wolverson 'politely' suggested he woman remove the niqab covering her face as he had difficulty hearing her explain what was wrong with her child during the appointment at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

But the 52-year-old was then 'deeply upset' to be told the incident had been reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) and he would be subject to a racial discrimination inquiry.

He says he has not been allowed to work at Royal Stoke's walk-in centre since the incident last summer.

And ultimately, he could be struck off the register by the watchdog.

Now the medic has told how is planning to leave the profession after 23 years of helping sick patients whatever the result of the investigation.

(Image: Getty)

He told the Daily Mail: "I feel a major injustice has taken place. This is why you are waiting so long to see your GP and doctors are leaving in droves. This country will have no doctors left if we continue to treat them in this manner. I’m deeply upset.

"A doctor’s quest to perform the very finest consultation for the safety of the patient has been misinterpreted in a duplicitous manner to suggest there has been an act of racism committed. I absolutely no longer want to be a doctor."

The Muslim woman brought her daughter, aged ten or 11, to see him at the Royal Stoke's walk-in centre last June as she was worried the child had tonsillitis.

But Dr Wolverson requested she remove the niqab because he could not hear her properly.

He says she agreed to the request but half an hour after the consultation her husband made a complaint.

Dr Wolverson told the Daily Mail: "He sat outside my consultation room and threateningly made eye contact towards me whenever I went out to fetch each patient. He then made a formal complaint and I was prevented from working at the walk-in centre again."

It has since emerged that NHS bosses sent the GMC a form outlining the complaints. It says the woman told the doctor she did not want to remove the veil on religious grounds but he refused to continue the consultation unless she did.

It claims he was ‘rude’ and ‘gave her a dirty look’, leaving her shocked and crying. She said she felt ‘victimised and racially discriminated’ against.

A spokesman for The Doctors’ Association UK, told StokeonTrentLive: "It is of utmost importance that the religious wishes of our patients are respected. However, evidently there are some circumstances where removal of a niqab or burka is necessary for medical assessment and treatment.

"Regardless of whether this complaint is upheld, the General Medical Council should consider issuing clear guidelines to protect both doctors, and our patients.”

What is a niqab? A niqab is an item of clothing that covers the face, worn by some Muslim woman as a part of a particular interpretation of hijab (modest dress). According to the majority of Muslim scholars and Islamic schools of thought, face veiling is not a requirement of Islam. However, a minority of Muslim scholars assert that women are required to cover their face in public. Today, the niqab is most often worn in its region of origin including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. However, even in these countries, the niqab is neither a universal cultural custom nor is it culturally compulsory.

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