Thousands feared harmed by bogus doctor over 22 years
THOUSANDS of patients could have been harmed by a bogus psychiatrist with no medical qualifications, health chiefs fear.
Zholia Alemi, 56, is believed to have worked in NHS and private clinics in Devon, Cumbria, West Yorkshire, Ayrshire, Dundee and the Highlands during a 22-year career.
She was allowed to register as a doctor using a fake degree because the General Medical Council (GMC) never checked that her documents were genuine.
Yesterday, the GMC confirmed it had launched a major review to establish where Alemi worked and how many patients she saw and possibly harmed. The evidence will be handed to Cumbria Police, who will launch a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud.
As MPs demanded to know how Alemi was allowed on to the medical register so easily and permitted to practise for 22 years, anxious patients were urged to contact the GMC’s support line.
The Mail revealed yesterday that Alemi was allowed on to the GMC’s register in 1995 due to a loophole for Commonwealth doctors coming to work in Britain. The conwoman – believed to be of Iranian origin – falsely claimed to have a medical degree from the University of Auckland.
The GMC toughened up its registration process in 2003. It is now reviewing the backgrounds of 3,000 doctors who came to the UK from these Commonwealth countries before that year to check if their degrees are genuine. A GMC spokesman said: ‘We have estab- lished a review team to urgently examine the detail of the case.
‘We have also contacted all other relevant agencies and organisations including the police, NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to let them know that we are undertaking an investigation.’
Alemi worked at Ailsa Hospital, Ayr, for 16 months from 2007 and at the time was registered with the GMC. A spokesman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said: ‘During her employment no formal complaints were raised against her.
‘If patients were treated by this individual and have concerns, we would advise them to contact our mental health services team.’
Alemi is also listed on the register of approved practitioners at NHS Highland under the title ‘locum psychiatrist’.
According to Companies House documents, Alemi was registered as a director of Couple Counselling Tayside, based in Dundee, but resigned the post a month later.
Alemi’s deception came to light after she was jailed for five years last month for trying to forge a dementia patient’s will in a bid to inherit her £1.3million estate.
A judge at Carlisle Crown Court described her behaviour as ‘criminality motivated by pure greed’.
In 2012, Alemi was investigated by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service after she failed to disclose that she had a conviction for careless driving.
At the same time, it examined a complaint that she had wrongly sectioned a patient, but gave her only a warning.
The GMC is powerless to bring disciplinary charges against Alemi because she is not a real doctor and so cannot be struck off the medical register.