PRESSURE is growing for an independent “judge-led” inquiry into the failings that allowed a fraudster to work as a highly paid NHS psychiatrist in the UK for 22 years.
Zholia Alemi’s deception was exposed by the News & Star in 2018 after she was prosecuted for forging the will of a former patient.
While working at Workington Community Hospital as a locum doctor in 2016, Alemi was arrested and then prosecuted for her audacious attempt to strip an 84-year-old widow of her entire estate.
Had she succeeded, Alemi, formerly of Scaw Road, Workington, would have inherited the woman’s entire £1.3m estate.
Thanks to the vigilance of a care worker, who supported the pensioner at her Bridekirk home, the fraudster’s callous attempt to inherit that wealth failed.
It was only after Alemi was prosecuted for that crime in 2018 that the News & Star uncovered an even bigger deception: that she never qualified as a doctor, having gained entry to the UK’s Medical Register by providing officials with forged documents – a degree certificate and a letter of verification from The University of Auckland Medical School.
As she jailed 60-year-old Alemi at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Hilary Manley highlighted the shoddy quality of the forged documents, which featured poor quality printing, grammatical errors and glaring spelling errors.
She questioned why it was a journalist who uncovered Alemi’s deception and not the GMC, given the obvious mistakes in the fruadster's forged documentation.
The judge also called for an “thorough, open and transparent” inquiry into the failings that allowed Alemi to work as a fake doctor. Carlisle MP John Stevenson backed the judge's call for an inquiry.
“The judge has exposed the fundamental flaw in the procedures of the GMC, which is seriously worrying, given the responsibility they have for ensuring doctors are properly certified and legitimate,” he said.
“Is there a degree of arrogance within the regulator? Given the outcome of the court case and the comments of the judge, it’s clear that the GMC needs to have an inquiry about what went wrong, and what they’ve done to correct it.
“They have to ensure nothing like this can happen again in the future, and it probably needs to be an external inquiry.”
Mr Stevenson agreed that such an inquiry should be judge-led, though not necessarily a public inquiry. “For the credibility of the GMC, they should instruct a judge to carry out an inquiry.”
Former Workington MP Sue Hayman, who is now Baroness Hayman of Ullock, recalled in her days and an MP supporting a local family who were affected by Alemi's illegal practice in Workington in 2016.
“How on earth was this able to happen in the first place,” said Mrs Hayman. “Who is checking how you can verify that kind of documentation?
“Obviously, there needs to be a coordinated approach. If she could get away with this for so long, what kind of confidence can we have in their procedures? I can confirm that [when Alemi’s deception came to light] I was supporting a local family who’d suffered as a result.”
Workington MP Mark Jenkinson said: “The GMC should be undertaking a full patient review alongside an audit of their own procedures.”
Una Lane, director of registration and revalidation at the GMC, said: ‘We are very sorry that Zholia Alemi was able to join our medical register in the 1990s, based on fraudulent documentation.
"We completely accept that the checks that were undertaken in this case were wholly inadequate.
"Our processes are far stronger now, with rigorous testing in place to make sure those joining the register are appropriately qualified. We are confident that, 27 years on, our systems are robust.
"Patients deserve good care from appropriately qualified professionals and place a great deal of trust in doctors. To exploit that trust and the respected name of the profession is abhorrent.”
Following the News & Star’s revelation in 2018, the GMC reviewed the primary medical qualifications of the 3,117 doctors who joined the medical register using the same route as Zholia Alemi and were still licensed to practise here.
All those qualifications were found to be genuine, said the spokeswoman, adding that current processes are “far stronger” and involve rigorous testing ensure those joining the register are appropriately qualified.
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