Senior NHS staff among 3,000 who ‘bought fake credentials’

Degrees, doctorates and Phds among bogus qualifications purchased online

NHS consultants are among thousands who have been accused of buying fake degrees online, an investigation has found.

Nurses, a psychologist, an anaesthetist and an ophthalmologist have allegedly purchased bogus qualifications from Axact, a multimillion pound “diploma mill” based in Pakistan.

More than 3,000 fake credentials were sold to British buyers in 2013 and 2014, including master’s degrees, doctorates and Phds, according to documents seen by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme.

Axact has strongly denied the claims.

Examples include a consultant at a London teaching hospital who allegedly bought a degree in internal medicine from the fake “Belford University”.

In other alleged instances, an anaesthetist bought a degree in “hospital management”, while a consultant in paediatric emergency medicine bought a masters in “healthcare technology”.

A British helicopter firm reportedly bought fake degrees for seven staff, including two pilots, between 2013 and 2015. FB Heliservices, an MOD contractor which trained the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, was investigated by its parent company Cobham. A spokesman for Cobham said it found that the purchase of degrees was “historic” and had “no impact” on safety.

“Procedural and disciplinary actions have been taken to address all the issues raised,” the spokesman said, adding that Cobham has a “robust ethical code” and “does not tolerate misconduct of any kind”.

A Department for Education (DFE) spokesman insisted it is taking “decisive action”. Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd) has identified 220 bogus HE institutions which sell fake degree certificates and nonexistent courses in the UK. Hedd has, so far, been responsible for 50 bogus websites being shut down.

The General Medical Council said that it checks doctors’ degrees, but it is up to employers to verify any additional qualifications.

A spokesman for Axact said the accusations were “baseless” and that the BBC’S investigation contained “substandard, non-factual and fallacious reporting pertaining to maligning and defamatory false accusations”.

It added: “No substantial evidence has been provided to prove the veracity of these claims. Such claims are made for the rivals’ personal vendetta against the Axact group and its management.

“All business units of Axact are completely legitimate, legal and committed to enhancing the quality of IT services across the world.”