GP referred to Medical Council for refusing to help patient avoid face masks

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A South Dublin general practitioner has been referred to the Medical Council after he refused to provide a letter of dispensation to a patient who does not wish to wear a mask in places where their use is mandated by Government.

Dr William Behan, who operates his practice out of Walkinstown on the city’s south side, said that the patient in question, who is not a frequent user of his services, had said that she “felt that she couldn’t wear masks” and that “they weren’t for her”.

He said the woman in question has no significant medical history, no history of psychiatric illness, and no learning disabilities.

The remote consultation which led to Dr Behan’s refusal had been held for a separate medical reason before the request for the letter of dispensation was presented.

“She said she was anxious about it. She wasn’t really engaging with the science, she just wanted the letter, which she felt that she was entitled to,” he said.

“I felt that she could engage a bit more and learn a bit more about the benefit of masks. 

If most people knew of the risks they would be happy to wear one I feel. There is a lot of patient learning needed on masks, they could reduce the mix of Covid by 75%.

"If I’m wearing a mask it’s stopping me from giving you my Covid,” he added.

Upon Dr Behan’s refusal, the patient initially complained to the local HSE office. 

However, an officer there, having consulted with Dr Behan, told the complainant that the issue was “going around in circles”, and suggested that she escalate the problem to the Medical Council, which is charged with holding physicians to account over malpractice.

A spokesperson for the Medical Council said that, while the Council cannot comment on individual complaints or confirm if a complaint has been received, it “must investigate all complaints received about a registered medical practitioner”.

When a complaint is first received by the Council it is handled by its Preliminary Proceedings Committee, which, as well as recommending fitness to practise inquiries, can also determine that no further action is necessary.

Dr Behan said that he doesn’t expect the complaint, which will be considered this month, to succeed. 

“But I will still have to take a day to document the incident and defend myself,” he said. 

“I’m not going to spend my whole summer holidays using solicitors to respond to this.” Regarding his own referral to the Council, he said: “At the high levels the HSE are very good, but when you get to a local level they just won’t engage with you”.

The HSE referred a query from the Irish Examiner regarding this matter to its local office in Tallaght. A response had not been received at the time of publication.

“While we don’t know the full details of this case, the key thing here is that the wearing of face masks reflects national public health policy and it behoves everyone to adhere to this policy whenever possible,” said Dr Padraig McGarry, president of the Irish Medical Organisation.

“To quote the HSE: ‘We are all in this together’,” he said, adding, “I think the GP in this instance reflected that approach and should be commended for it”.