Urgent Checks On Foreign Doctors After Fake NHS Psychiatrist Worked For 22 YEARS

Around 3,000 doctors are being investigated after it was discovered a woman with no qualifications had been practicing for more than two decades



Thousands of foreign doctors are facing urgent checks

Thousands of foreign doctors are being urgently checked after it was discovered that a woman said to have no qualifications worked as an NHS psychiatrist for 22 years.

Zholia Alemi claimed she had a primary medical qualification when she first registered in the UK in 1995.

In reality, her claim to have a degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand was fraudulent.

Her deception was believed to have only been discovered after she was jailed on a separate fraud matter last month.




Zholia Alemi claimed she had a primary medical qualification when she first registered in the UK in 1995

The woman claimed to have a degree when she came to work in the UK in the early 1990s but she actually failed her first year and dropped out, it was reported last night.

However, the General Medical Council (GMC), the watchdog responsible for checking the background of medics, reportedly failed to make sure that her documentation was legitimate.

The number of doctors being audited was last night put at 3,000, a figure the GMC reportedly said represented only 1 per cent of the 300,000 foreign medics on the register.

Charlie Massey, Chief Executive of the GMC, last night told The Mirror: “These are serious issues and we are investigating them urgently.

“It is extremely concerning that a person used a fraudulent qualification to join the register and we are working to understand how this happened.

“We have brought this to the attention of police and other agencies, including NHS England, so that they may also take any necessary action to support patients and answer any questions they may have.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: “As the organisation responsible for regulating doctors, we expect the GMC to investigate how this criminal was able to register as a doctor and put measures in place to make sure it can’t happen again.”

Source