Change of Title. Can't Think Of One :). Lets Just Say, I am Not a Lesbian :)

For all the Men

I have rewritten some of this post as I clearly cannot multitask. I have been dealing with an internet emergency on nhsexposedblog.blogspot.com so I decided to rewrite some of the post. I didn't concentrate a great deal earlier this evening, probably because I was wolfing down a chocolate icecream and trying to get someone out of a pickle. I am 37 soon - 5th November :) [ pointing at date with large arrows - so the Highland Deanery Surgeons pay some attention to my shortbread and kilted men needs].

Anyway, this is take 2, here goes.....


I returned home today to find a number of interesting things in my email box. For fun, I read the GMC hearing listings. That is because I am a GMC geek. Only sad people like me read documents like that. I also read GMC Today for entertainment value. It essentially accompanies my Hello Magazine.

Now, this is the tale on the GMC's own website.

Name: Dr Muhammad Siddiq

GMC Reference Number: 1233812

Area of practice: Walsall

"The Panel will inquire into the allegation that, on two occasions, Dr Siddiq wrote a letter to the Walsall Teaching Primary Care Trust which were inappropriate and not in the best interests of his patients. The Panel will further inquire into the allegation that Dr Siddiq sent a letter to a magazine, which was subsequently published, and which was inappropriate, not in the best interests of his patients, liable to undermine confidence in the medical profession and liable to bring the medical profession into disrepute"

PINK Reported it.

The National Secular Society wrote as follows :-

In the letter, Dr Muhammad Siddiq says that gays need “the stick of the law to put them on the right path" and that they deserve neither help nor pity.

"There is punishment and fine if you throw rubbish or filth in the streets. The gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen,” wrote the GP, who is a contracted by Walsall Primary Care Trust in the West Midlands, “They are causing the spread of disease with their irresponsible behaviour. They are the root of many sexually transmitted diseases." The letter went on to say that a depressed transsexual awaiting gender reassignment was "twisted."

Dr Siddiq denies that he wrote the letter and claims his son was playing a "cynical spoof" on him by forcing him to sign the letter and sending it to Pulse, a magazine for GPs. When the magazine checked with Dr Siddiq, he made no effort to deny that these were his views. Allegedly, he has privately told his colleagues that he had actually written the letter.

Dr Michael Irwin, co-ordinator of the Secular Medical Forum commented: "If Dr. Muhammad Siddiq holds these views, he should not be allowed to work within the NHS. And, if he has a private practice, his patients should be made aware of his opinion, so that only those with a similar bigoted outlook would be likely to see him. Looking to the future, I believe the GMC should require him to attend a ‘Fitness-to-Practice’ hearing: then, if it is confirmed that he has been correctly quoted, his medical registration should be suspended."

The GP has now been suspended while Walsall PCT carry out an investigation into the comments attributed to Dr M Siddiq.

Is the GMC right in this case or wrong? There are two sides of this argument of course. The Article 10 HRA rights are always vested with the writer [ no matter how uncomfortable the views] This was enshrined by the issues raised related to the British National Party. The British National Party frequently raises "IST" views. Their various members are doctors registered with the GMC. No action is ever taken against them. What shall we say, will all the doctors who are BNP members stand up so they can be struck off :).Of course, the GMC will never strike of BNP members just like they won't strike of Scientologists or Freemasons :).

Of course, the man who makes the remarks about Dr M Siddiq above is none other than Dr Michael Irwin. For those who don't remember, Michael was struck off for his views regarding euthanasia. Irwin felt he should not have been struck off but his views were just as radical as those of the above doctor.

On a side line issue in relation to the GMC's policy of equality :) :).

The GMC is guilty of hauling large numbers foreign doctors to their hearings. Rough numbers show this. For years, they never had the statistics required under the Race Relations Act. There is a reason for this. It was to prevent the GMC from litigation under the RRA. Discrimination law as everyone knows depends on statistics. If there aren't any, no one can hold them accountable. Clever isn't it. A number of years ago, Dr Varma and I made a formal complaint to the Commission of Racial Equality on this very point. The GMC was investigated and during that investigation, they decided to start collecting ethnic statistics. As every doctor will recall, Catto crowed about the new ethnic group statistics collections. No one asked the GMC why they had never collected the statistics in 150 years and why this was in direct violation of the recommendations made under the Race Relations Act. So, in essence Sushant and I were indeed responsible for the change in policy at the GMC here. We know that BAPIO took the credit but the evidence speaks for itself.

Anyhow, racism is endemic in the medical profession. All the studies show this. No one has yet been struck off for it :)> Not that we know anyway.

My point is this - the GMC contains a number of panellists, committee members and bigoted idiots. No one demands that they are taken down the Fitness to Practise procedures. For years, doctors with less than a clipped English accent have been harassed through the GMC. No panellists has ever been held accountable for their "IST" behaviour. I don't even mean racist, you just have to be a "little different" for the GMC to pronounce that "The Doctor Has a Attitudinal Problem".

I ought not to say this but given the GMC's stance on one of my muslim friend, it gave me the impression that the GMC were becoming very anti muslim. It was simply a tone in the documents I read. Perhaps that is a product of the society we currently live in. I am simply saying that the General Medical Council has never been concerned about any other "IST" behaviour apart from homophobia. While all gay people deserve equal rights as specified by Elizabeth Paice, every other person who is different deserves the same rights too. I for instance deserve to be treated fairly as a whistleblower. If I was a lesbian, Elizabeth Paice would probably have backed me up. The GMC would have tiptoed around me and treated me wonderfully. Alas, I love men, I am heterosexual and have no lesbian tendencies [having tried it for about 2 seconds and admired men for tolerating women :)]. Because of that, I don't get any special treatment from anyone. In fact, I have no rights at the present time because I write critical material of our systems. On a positive note, there is always the cute Richard Marks and the rather cuter kilted surgeons in Scotland who still owe me some shortbread. So there are better perks by not being a lesbian anyday.