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UK – Recruiter sentenced for falsifying doctors’ CVs

27 February 2015

A London-based recruitment consultant created fake references for foreign doctors in a “potentially dangerous” scam, in order to secure them locum jobs at British hospitals, reports The Daily Mail.

Seven locum doctors were employed by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust on the basis of Ross Etherson's misleading documents, a court heard.

Mr Etherson altered the CVs and made up references while working for Midas Medical Recruitment in Chiswick, London.

The scam is estimated to have cost the NHS £37,186.

Judge Robin Johnson told Isleworth Crown Court: “It is fortunate that there is no occasion where such lack of experience on behalf of one of these doctors impacted on the health of a patient. But that was purely down to luck.” 

Mr Etherson pleaded guilty to 21 counts of making or supplying articles for use in fraud. He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 12 months, to be served concurrently for each of the 21 counts. 

The judge said the case raised concerns about a lack of thorough checks by hospitals and GP surgeries into the backgrounds of their locum doctors: “The facts of this case reveal that some responsible NHS managers carried out proper checks on doctors and revealed this fraud. Such managers are to be commended. However, there are other instances where doctors were appointed where not only were CVs false, but that references were given from fictitious persons - generally from imaginary consultants.”

“It appears therefore that over this period there were occasions where no proper check was made on important references. If there was a company that was acting in this fraudulent and dangerous way, it is of considerable public interest as to what has been done since to ensure that patients are no longer put at risk of inexperienced doctors and under-qualified doctors and the NHS does not pay for doctors on such false basis,” he added.

The scam was discovered when a clinical services manager at Lincoln County Hospital and Grantham District Hospital reported concerns about some locum doctors' CVs and references to the NHS Counter-Fraud Service.

NHS Protect's fraud investigators searched Midas' Chiswick premises in April 2010, imaged computers, and seized papers.

When interviewed after his arrest, Mr Etherson admitted altering and falsifying applicants' references, as well as the UK work experience sections of a number of their CVs, and supplying the false documents to Trusts throughout the UK.

Forensic examination of the imaged computer equipment revealed faked reference letters within the CVs made use of at least eight false identities of medical consultants, either loosely based on real people or entirely made up.

The doctors whose CVs were altered were qualified abroad and were unaware of the scam. There is no evidence that patients had suffered clinically as a result of the fraud.

Judge Johnson said he was concerned that no one else had been arrested in the case, despite the court hearing how Mr Etherson had carried out the fraud “at the behest and encouragement” of the company where he worked.

Mr Etherson had worked for Midas between April 2009 and May 2010 where his main role was supposed to be placing adequately qualified and experienced doctors in NHS positions. 

Jocelyn Ledward, mitigating, previously told the court that Mr Etherson had been drawn into a “culture of deceit” when he took a job at Midas, where there was an attitude of “see no evil, hear no evil”.

While working there, Mr Etherson adopted a pseudonym, as was the practice in the office to pass problems on to a fictitious manager. The company also encouraged adding details of work in the UK and qualifications that did not exist in the UK.

The judge told the court: “While the counts on the indictment enabled the agency to claim £37,000 in fees, the seriousness of this fraud is that doctors were being placed where their experience was less than claimed on their CVs.”

“When interviewed, Mr Etherson told police that this was the culture of this recruitment company. He was trained to carry out such a fraud from the very outset of his employment.”

“He was given a prepared script to use when calling locum doctors. They would be asked to email their genuine CVs. These CVs were then embellished to add bogus experience in an effort to make the doctor more attractive to the particular NHS Trust.”

“The management of Midas Medical Recruitment as it was operating in 2009/2010, not only knew about his activity but were responsible for bringing it about. The benefits to the company were all too obvious.”

“The doctors were being paid as little as £15 per hour while the agency was charging up to £120 per hour for the services of these doctors. The man that is in the dock is at the lowest end of responsibility for this criminal conduct. No-one else has, to my knowledge, even been arrested, let alone tried for this shameful practice,” Judge Johnson concluded.

The company is still trading in the same area under a different name, with a commonality of directors. 

David Hall, Anti-Fraud Lead, NHS Protect, said after the sentencing: “Ross Etherson's potentially dangerous deception has caught up with him. He abused a position of trust for his personal gain, seeming not to care about the potential consequences for patients of receiving treatment from medical staff whose experience did not meet the requirements of their job.”