Psychiatric patient died after seeing bogus practitioner

A PATIENT died after being treated by fake psychiatrist who had worked for the NHS for 22 years despite failing exams in her home country, an inquest heard.

Darren King, 31, who had a history of autism, epilepsy and learning difficulties, was found dead by his mother Jane at his home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, following an epileptic fit in his bath.

Three years earlier he had met Zholia Alemi, a locum psychiatrist employed by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust between April 2014 and April 2015, becoming one of her patients in receipt of care in the community.

When she first registered in the UK in 1995, Alemi claimed she had a primary medical qualification. She was subsequently allowed to practise for 22 years. But in reality, her “degree” from the University of Auckland in New Zealand was fraudulent.

She was jailed for five years for fraud in 2018 after changing a patient’s will to make herself a beneficiary.

It was subsequently discovered that she had also lied about her medical qualifications and was struck off the medical register.

Nigel Parsley, the coroner for Suffolk, said: “I can’t consider Alemi to be a witness of truth.”

However, Dr Jonathan Bird, a qualified psychiatrist who as an independent expert witness was asked to review her written evidence, said that the care she had given Mr King had been “very reasonable”. He said: “She seemed to be concerned about things which she should have been concerned about – his mental health, epilepsy and capacity. She involved others in the team.

“She wasn’t a clinician who just made decisions and told people to get on with it or made decisions without thinking about what others thought.

“It seems to me during what was a relatively short period of time when she was a locum and bussed into a series of cases that were fairly complex, she used her experience in learning difficulties and management of disability in a reasonable way.”

The inquest heard Mr King had been advised to take showers rather than bathe due to his epilepsy and was assessed as having the capacity to make some decisions. The inquest continues.