AN ‘extremely respected’ doctor who fiddled his timesheets and claimed a ‘substantial sum’ more in wages than he was entitled to having forged signatures has been struck off the medical register.
Between September 2019 and December 2020, Dr Uzair Irshad was contracted via an agency to work eight-hour shifts at Barnsley Hospital from 9am until 5pm.
It was found that Dr Irshad submitted timesheets to various individuals at the hospital for authorisation to claim for hours worked during this period.
However, he altered a number of timesheets he submitted after they were signed off, before he lodged the documents for payment with the agency and pocketed an undisclosed sum, said by the tribunal to be ‘substantial’.
He also forged the signatures of two of his colleagues on a number of timesheets without their authorisation or knowledge.
The referral to the General Medical Council (GMC) was made following an investigation by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, which then resulted in a tribunal.
A tribunal document said: “Dr Irshad had involved and potentially implicated his colleagues in his dishonesty, by both altering timesheets already signed off and by forging the signatures of two colleagues.
“Some colleagues involved had reported feeling upset by his ‘very distasteful’ actions.
“The tribunal was satisfied that his actions caused some distress to those involved and abused the trust placed in him, as he put them at risk of disciplinary action by implicating them in his fraudulent behaviour.
“His actions were sustained over a long period of time, involved theft from public funds and forging his colleagues’ signatures which could have had serious implications for those colleagues.
“The tribunal viewed this as a serious abuse of the position of trust held by a doctor.
“We gave Dr Irshad some credit for having made an offer of repayment, although this was an attempt to return money that Dr Irshad should not have taken in the first place and had not actually been repaid.
“In a letter of testimonial, Dr Irshad was said to be an extremely respected and highly-regarded dermatology medic, who has demonstrated a high level of patient care in his role.
“However, he defrauded the NHS by claiming and being paid for hours which he had not worked, including when on annual leave.”
In considering whether Dr Irshad’s conduct was fundamentally incompatible with continued registration, the tribunal took into account the serious nature of the misconduct found.
Despite his lack of previous adverse regulatory findings, and subsequent good conduct, Dr Irshad’s misconduct was a ‘reckless, premeditated and deliberate departure from the standards expected of a doctor’, they concluded, and erased him from the register.
“The dishonesty only came to light because of the suspicions of a colleague, not because Dr Irshad himself decided to stop it,” the tribunal document added.
“If an appeal is made (against the erasure), the immediate order will remain in force until the appeal has concluded.”
Barnsley Hospital’s medical director Dr Simon Enright said: “Dr Irshad had been working as a locum consultant via an agency when his actions were uncovered.
“His actions represent very serious departures from the standards of conduct and behaviour expected of registered medical practitioners.
“We expect all NHS employees to have a responsibility to maintain public confidence in the medical profession and maintain proper professional standards.”
