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Dentist tried to impose Muslim dress code on patient
A dentist who told a female patient she could not receive treatment from him unless she wore "appropriate Islamic dress" has been found guilty of serious professional misconduct.
Dr Omer Butt, registered in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, received an admonition yesterday following a three-day disciplinary hearing of the General Dental Council in London in which he was found guilty of discriminating against the woman named only as Ms A.
Stewart Goulding, chairman of the GDC professional conduct committee, told Dr Butt his conduct had fallen short of the standard expected of a dentist in that he had not put the interests of patient A first on April 18, 2005.
But he said the committee had noted testimonials from patients and mitigation that he had put before them. The committee had also heard there had not been any previous disciplinary hearings against him, he said.
Concluding the case, he said: "The effect of your actions on this occasion was to impede patient A's access to local dental services."
The finding of serious professional misconduct came after the committee earlier ruled that Dr Butt was guilty of telling patient A words to the effect that, in order to receive treatment from him, she needed to wear appropriate Islamic dress.
The committee also ruled he had told Ms A that if she did not wear a headscarf, she would need to register with another dentist.
The dentist was found guilty of undermining public confidence in the dental profession by discriminating against Ms A, a non-practising Muslim, in seeking to impose an Islamic dress code on her in order for treatment to be provided by him.
The woman, a community nurse, told the hearing she was left "humiliated and upset" when she went to Dr Butt's Unsworth Smile clinic in Bury, Greater Manchester, in April 2005.
She said Dr Butt told her she would have to find another dentist because she would not wear her headscarf.
In evidence to the committee Dr Butt admitted reducing treatment fees to encourage female patients to wear the Islamic headscarf.
He also said he would ask Muslim women to cover up in observance of Islamic law before he treated them. But he denied refusing treatment to her because she would not follow his rules.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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