GP who asked Muslim woman to remove her veil ‘because he was struggling to understand her’ is struck off

Susanna Siddell
Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:50:22 +0000

A GP who asked a Muslim woman to remove her veil "because he was struggling to understand her" has been struck off.

Back in 2022, Keith Wolverson was suspended for nine months over misconduct claims after he "caused" the patient to remove the covering following repeated requests for her to do so – and criticised patients' fluency in English.

He subsequently attempted to argue the Muslim "spoke poor English" and her veil was making it hard to "understand her".

A later tribunal found the woman was fluent in English and his complaint was "dishonest".

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The disgraced medic used to work at Royal Stoke University Hospital and Derby Urgent Treatment Centre.

He is said to have written in patients' records they "need to learn better English" in a string of reported inappropriate remarks.

He is alleged to have complained to a senior colleague he "shouldn't have to see patients who can't speak English".

Dr Wolverson was suspended again for 12 months two years later in 2024 when it was revealed that he was practising while suspended at Practice Plus in Reading on 17 occasions.

While the doctor claimed the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service's appear process was "unclear", the tribunal ruled he had "clearly" been instructed that his registration was suspended.

The man was permanently struck off due to the "flagrant disregard for the regulatory process".

He also failed to appear at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal hearing.

The initial complaint from the case of the Muslim woman was back in May 2018 after her husband complained.

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He said his wife felt "victimised and racially discriminated" during the consultation where she was explaining her child's symptoms.

The doctor insisted he was "trying to look at her mouth movements to aid communication" during the appointment and so requested she remove her niqab.

The same ruling uncovered that Dr Wolverson refused to speak with the patient's husband because his manner was "aggressive and intimidating" – yet the doctor's own lawyer admitted he had been "insensitive".

The doctor had also written up 15 different patients' medical records complaining of their – and their relatives' – fluency in English.

He branded their linguistic talents "not good enough" and "unacceptable", between January and April 2018.

After the tribunal in 2022, Dr Wolverson admitted he "deeply regretted the comments he made in the patients' medical notes".

He added: "It would be completely wrong to maintain the suspension and prohibit a doctor further from doing his duty to his patients when there are such grave shortages within the NHS currently."

Now, in the latest tribunal, the panel ruled there was risk of repetition and the doctor ought to be permanently struck off.

Emma Gilberthorpe, chairing the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, said: "When considering sanction, the Tribunal reminded itself of the nature of the misconduct and Dr Wolverson's ongoing lack of insight and remediation.

"The Tribunal noted that Dr Wolverson has not worked since 2022. This was a real concern with regards to deskilling. There was no evidence to demonstrate that he has kept his knowledge and skills up to date.

"The longer he failed to engage with the regulatory process, the greater this risk became."

She added: "The tribunal concluded that any lesser sanction would fail to address the current and ongoing risk to public protection and would not adequately reflect the seriousness of Dr Wolverson's misconduct."