Psychologist, 51, struck off after sick-leave fraud
A psychologist has been struck off for running a private £80-an-hour clinic while claiming NHS sick pay.
Denise Whitworth, 51, moonlighted to get nearly £2,000 while receiving her full wage after telling bosses she couldn’t work because of a bad back.
She was found guilty of fraud in court and a disciplinary panel gave her an indefinite ban, saying she had failed to remedy her “failings”.
The hearing in Cardiff was told Whitworth had also not voluntarily removed herself from being able to practise despite indicating she had now “retired”.
The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service panel ruled it was in the public interest to give a striking-off order.
Whitworth was sacked from her job with Cwm Taf University Health Board after being found guilty of fraud at Swansea Crown Court.
The court heard she had cashed in £1,760 for undertaking private work at the same time as claiming full sick leave.
Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir had said: “While Mrs Whitworth was receiving her full wages she saw patients at a private clinic she ran in Cardiff for £80 per session. “She received £1,760. “The defendant was on sick pay while at the same time working privately.”
Whitworth left work complaining about a back problem in October 2012 – the same day she’d told a manager she was “unhappy” with the distances she had to travel to meet patients.
Four months later a tipoff to the NHS counterfraud specialist alerted them to private consultations she was holding in a private consulting office.
Whitworth claimed she was forced to undertake the extra work despite her back condition because she was under “severe financial strain”.
But she was ordered to repay the NHS £1,690.54 and was handed a 12month community order.
Her conviction led to her being suspended from the Health and Care Professions Council Register for one year in February 2017, before her case was reviewed last week.
Whitworth, from Port Talbot, did not attend the hearing in Cardiff and did not choose anyone to represent her.