Hoodwinked the NHS
‘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.’ GMC DIRECTOR OF REGISTRATION AND REVALIDATION, UNA LANE
wrote the letter and by 1995 she was no longer working as the faculty registrar.
Police found a ‘‘forger’s kit’’ while searching Alemi’s home in Omagh, Northern Ireland. It included the original torn yellow certificate, which is likely to have been the genuine University of Auckland degree for the Bachelor of
Human Biology, and two photocopies. Alemi was alleged to have taken the legitimate certificate and altered the wording with dry transfer lettering, awarding herself the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree.
She also altered the date to 1995, then photocopied it at least twice.
Police also found the forged letter of verification, a blank University of Auckland degree certificate and degree certificates in the name of Alemi’s brother. When asked what the certificates were for, Alemi said she bought them from a souvenir shop to give to family, The News & Star previously reported.
‘‘They are not certificates. They are cards I bought for my sister for fun.’’
Police also found sheets of dry transfer letters.
Document analysis expert Oliver Thorne found the letter of verification used dry transfer lettering and the signature had been produced using multiple overlying strokes. That meant it was extremely unlikely the letter was genuine, he said.
Thorne also concluded the original certificate was altered by applying dry transfer lettering.
Alemi was investigated by UK medical authorities multiple times, dating back to 1998.
The GMC received and investigated nine complaints during the 23 years Alemi was on the register, a spokesperson said.
In 2004, the GMC issued formal advice to Alemi about the need to demonstrate sensitive communication with families.
The next time concerns were raised was in December 2010, leading to Alemi receiving a warning in 2012.
A review found she failed to declare a conviction for careless driving, misused work emails, made inappropriate comments to patients and staff, fabricated parts of her CV and did work for which she did not have approval.
In 2018, she was given a 12-month suspension.
That same year, Alemi was jailed for fraud and theft after she was found to have doctored an elderly dementia patient’s will in an attempt to inherit the pensioner’s £1.3 million (NZ$2.4 million) estate.
After she was jailed in 2018, the GMC apologised for ‘‘inadequate checks’’.
Alemi was able to become a registered doctor in the UK under a section of the Medical Act which has not been in force since 2003.
The section allows graduates of medical schools in certain Commonwealth countries to obtain registration on the basis of their qualification, without having to sit and pass assessments.
As part of her application, Alemi presented what appeared to be a primary medical qualification from the University of Auckland, a letter from the university confirming her graduation and a reference letter from her most recent employers in Pakistan.
The GMC said in the 1990s, the documents were not subject to the rigorous checks that are now in place.
‘‘We are very sorry that Zholia Alemi was able to join our medical register in the 1990s, based on fraudulent documentation, and for any risk arising to patients as a result,’’ GMC director of registration and revalidation Una Lane said.
‘‘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.
‘‘It is clear that in this case the steps taken almost three decades ago were inadequate. We are confident that, 27 years on, our systems are robust.’’
In Stables’ opening to the jury he said Alemi may simply have wanted ‘‘desperately to be a doctor’’.
Because she failed the exams, she went on to forge her qualifications so that she could practise in a field that interested or stimulated her, he said.
‘‘She may simply have wanted the status of a doctor. We are unlikely ever to know the true position.’’