Fake psychiatrist must repay salary?

[Imdunfer]

There's a fake doctor serving time in prison for pretending to be a qualified psychiatrist. The NHS employed her for 20 years. She's being told she must repay £400k salary or stay in prison longer.

Surely if she was employed for 20 years then she must have done a reasonable job or she would have been sacked?

How does she owe that money if she did the job?
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Because she's a fraud, she lied about her qualifications.

It's an interesting question. Could she counter-sue NHS for unpaid work if they force her to pay it back?

She was also previously jailed for fraud, attempting to change a patients will but the gmc have a lot to answer for too.

I thought the same, is it £400k damages or £400k salary? You would think that 20 years of experience would count towards something. I wonder if she had any complaints or was good at her job. I don't remember how she was found out.

As far as I recall she wasn't a good Dr - I'll try to find the article. She also forged an 84 yr old's will.

Apparently she moved jobs frequently, to avoid people starting to ask questions about her incompetence

'During her fraudulent career, Alemi had misdiagnosed patients, prescribed inappropriate medications, and even detained patients under the Mental Health Act. It is believed that she had seen several hundred patients during her time in the NHS, and many of them may have suffered harm due to her fraudulent practices.'

'Many patients who had been treated by Alemi were left with physical and emotional scars, and some even lost their lives due to the harm caused by her actions'

Lots of complaints from staff and patients which led to a suspension and it was a journalist who started the investigation,

BBC News - Fraud doctor Zholia Alemi: Drowned man's family voiced fears - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-46345487

Her 'success' was down to her niche specialism

Because there are so few qualified, professional people working in mental health, anyone who can 'talk the talk', with a proven track record with other employers will be snapped up

Mental health, psychiatry and psychology really are the 'Cinderalla' services

Maybe she was awful and no-one noticed anything different to any of the others?
Maybe she was excellent and that was why they noticed?

"The BBC can now reveal how Alemi, who was assigned Mr King's case while working for the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), had refused a family request to do a capacity assessment on the risks of him living independently."

I work in MH and I cannot tell you how short we are of consultants. Years of putting out jobs and no applications. It must get desperate for trusts to not do due diligence.

That's interesting, i thought it was presented on the BBC as if it was a return of salary not a return of a legacy. I'd understand the second one.
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Jesus that's frightening isn't it? That she could do a bad job for 20 years and not get thrown out?

https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/fake-doctor-has-been-ordered-payback-ps406624-nhs-fraud-and-forgery-offending

Well that's a lot more understandable, I still want to know how she was employed as a psychiatrist for 20 years by the NHS!

Many years ago the NHS trust i worked for took on a consultant psychiatrist as a long term locum in a vacant post. I think she was Hungarian or Romanian. She physically assaulted her medical secretary and nothing was done about her. 18 months after her contact ended there was a double page spread in the telegraph as she was up at the old Bailey for posing as a Dr. There were sackings in HR when that came out.

There were different overseas recruitment schemes back then. It's all in her wiki page. The gmc and nhs failed too.

I've worked for the NHS and unfortunately this doesn't surprise me