Home Correspondent
A senior doctor was issued a warning by a medical tribunal on December 18 for accidentally recording derogatory remarks about two Muslim patients on a voicemail. Dr Balvinder Mehat, a GP and senior partner at Bakersfield Medical Centre in Nottingham, left the comments after failing to disconnect a call with another patient. The Sikh doctor is also under investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC) for circumcising a child without the father’s consent.
Recorded Comments and Context
The recorded comments, made on July 8, 2021, during a conversation with the practice manager, were in Punjabi. They included the statement, “These Muslims are very bad,” alongside a reference to incest.
Mehat explained that the conversation was about a patient who had been “rude and verbally abusive” during a phone call with a staff member and had posted a negative online review.
“During the conversation with Ms D [the practice manager], I used language and made comments that I am ashamed of, and I apologise unreservedly,” he stated to the tribunal.
“I felt angry and upset that the negative review had been posted, and I spoke in a way that was derogatory and unacceptable. I am truly ashamed.”
An unknown individual shared the previously private voicemail on social media in August 2023. Mehat learned of its circulation when his son’s friend sent him the recording on WhatsApp.
In response, he published an apology on the practice’s website and reached out personally to the local community to express regret.
Impact on Patients and Tribunal Findings
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) noted the recording caused concern among Muslim patients, who make up about 20% of the practice’s patient base. Mehat admitted to making the derogatory comments but denied they demonstrated “hostility based on race/religion.” The tribunal, however, found this allegation proven.
The tribunal did not uphold his denial that he acted on “racial/religious hostility.”
Mehat clarified to the tribunal that his remarks about “these Muslims” referred only to the specific patients not the Muslim community as a whole.
“My outburst was about them [the patients] and their actions, which I had found deeply upsetting,” he said.
While the tribunal deemed Mehat’s remarks “serious misconduct,” it acknowledged his “considerable remorse.” The panel concluded that he remained fit to practice.
Previous and Ongoing Investigations
The GMC is also investigating claims that Mehat performed a circumcision on a boy without the father’s consent. The child later required hospital treatment for an infection following the procedure.
In 2019, Mehat was suspended by an MPTS tribunal for circumcising another child without the mother’s consent. The boy’s paternal grandmother arranged the procedure without informing the mother. Despite the suspension, the tribunal found Mehat posed “no risk to patients,” allowing him to remain in his role.
Apology and Efforts to Rebuild Trust
Jetinder Shergill, chair of the tribunal, acknowledged Mehat’s public apology and efforts to address the incident. “He has apologised publicly and expressed regret from the time he became aware that the recording existed,” Shergill stated.
“Further, he self-referred to the GMC at the first opportunity, gave full and frank accounts in his statements, made appropriate admissions, and acknowledged to the tribunal that his language was unacceptable and derogatory.”
Photo: A senior GP Balvinder Mehat was issued a warning by a medical tribunal on December 18 for accidentally recording derogatory remarks about two Muslim patients at Bakersfield Medical Centre (Credit: Googlemaps)
