It was reported from London that a fake Psychiatrist with zero qualifications was allowed to practice for 22 years. It is indeed surprising to hear such news from London. How did it all happen? Don’t the UK medical governing bodies check the doctors before issuing them the license? This question surely arises in our mind.
The fake doctor named Zholia Alemi who was employed as a consultant psychiatrist in Cumbria North West England was caught and arrested in October after she changed an elderly client’s will and altered it, without her approval to make herself the beneficiary. It is said that Zholia Alemi was first registered in Britain in 1995, where she tricked medical bodies into believing that she had a qualification from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
After her arrest, the General Medical Council has now launched an investigation into thousands of UK-based doctors. This investigation is launched for all those doctors who registered themselves for UK license for practicing their field in the same way as Alemi.
It is also reported that nearly 3,000 doctors are being investigated. The bodies that determine the qualification of the doctors in the UK were also questioned for providing the license to Alemi to which they admitted that their checks were inadequate and apologized for any risk arising to patients as a result.
They claimed that in 1995 Alemi took the advantage of a section of the medical art that allowed medical graduates from some Commonwealth countries to skip examinations and some rigorous documents check. This act was removed in 2003.
Accused of theft
However, she is caught, and her deception has also been uncovered after an investigation by UK’s regional newspaper. Beside deception, she is also accused of theft. She is blamed for stealing a number of watches.
Alemi cheated her elderly patient who knew her by her name as Julia. She gave a statement against her to the police, saying, “Julia has recruited a will and put herself down for everything as I did not tell her I had a family……. but I don’t want her having it all.”
Precautions are now being taken
The Department of Health and Social Care Spokeswoman said, “As the organization is responsible for regulating doctors and we expect the General Medical Council (GMC) to investigate how this criminal was able to reach here and get herself registered as a doctor.” She expected that GMC should take actions in place to make it sure not happen again.
GMC chief executive said in a statement that the patients deserve good care from appropriately qualified doctors and they place great trust in doctors. To exploit the trust of people and the profession is not compromised at any sort.
He further said that our process is far stronger now with a rigorous testing in place to ensure that next joining are capable to work in this field or not.
