Muslim GPs fail to respect the confidentiality of Muslim women patients, Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, has claimed.

Ms Hewitt, who represents a constituency in Leicester with a large ethnic minority community, said: “I have had Muslim women give me chapter and verse on very distressing breaches of confidentiality by Muslim GPs.

“Some women patients feel they cannot trust their own GP. If they talk to him about a very difficult situation concerning domestic violence or sexual health problems they fear that he will share that with other members of the community.”

Ms Hewitt had touched on the issue earlier in a speech to the Fabian Society but elaborated her concerns in an interview in Pulse.

A report published last year by the Muslim Women’s Network lends some support to Ms Hewitt’s charges. It said: “Women did not trust professionals from within their own communities to be always bound by professional rules of confidentiality.”

The report is based on conversations with Muslim women throughout the country.

But Asian GPs reacted strongly to Ms Hewitt’s remarks. Dr Vijoy Singh, chair of Leicestershire and Rutland Local Medical Committee, which covers Ms Hewitt’s constituency, said: “No GP would break confidentiality because if they break it, they are liable to be sued. She’s out of touch.”

Prakash Chandra, Local Medical Committee chairman in Newham, which has many Muslim residents, told Pulse: “It surprises me that Patricia Hewitt would make such a statement. This is not a problem I have come across.”

A spokeswoman for the General Medical Council (GMC), which investigates complaints against doctors, said: “The GMC is aware that some groups of patients may have added concerns about the confidentiality of their personal information.”

In the past year, she said, 11 doctors had been referred to a fitness to practise hearing for allegations involving the intentional disclosure of patient information.

A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said: “Breaching confidentiality is extremely serious and any doctor who does must be prepared to justify their actions to the General Medical Council.”

Jo Haynes, editor of Pulse, said: “These are serious accusations. You would hope Patricia Hewitt has some firm evidence to back up her decision to single out Muslim doctors in this way.”

Ms Hewitt said: “This is not a direct accusation against Muslim GPs — it is a call for sensitivity from all parts of the health service.”

Haleh Afshar, professor of politics and women’s studies at York University and chair-woman of the Muslim Women’s Network, said she believed that Ms Hewitt had been commenting on issues raised in its own report. “We said that this is a concern that is shared by all women, but the difficulty for Muslim women is that sometimes they don’t have the option of going to a GP outside their community.”

Dr Reefat Drabu, a GP in Southampton, said that she found the accusations offensive. “I’m a Muslim doctor” she said. “Confidentiality is paramount not just for the GP, but for the whole practice. To breach confidentiality in my practice is a sackable offence.”

An ancient obligation

— Confidentiality is a duty laid on doctors ever since the Hippocractic Oath was drafted in the 4th century BC

— The original version of the oath read: “All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal”

— The modern version of the oath, as drafted by the General Medical Council in its document Good Medical Practice, says that doctors should treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity; treat patients politely and considerately; and respect patients’ right to confidentiality

— Any breach of confidentiality would be treated very seriously. But proving it has occurred, particularly in a community where other ethical standards may take precedence, is likely to be difficult

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