A doctor has been suspended for 12 months after she failed to disclose she had been convicted of drugs offences.
When applying for a job at Aintree University Hospital, Farina Sheikh failed to disclose she had been convicted in 2012 in Romania of a criminal offence that involved her "being concerned in supplying controlled drugs."
She did not disclose the information when she obtained full registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) in September 2016 before commencing employment as a Foundation year 1 doctor at Aintree.
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Sheikh claimed she passed money between friends but was “unaware this was payment for a drugs transaction.”
But this was found to be untrue as on more than one occasion she had arranged drug transactions for her friends.
Records showed Sheikh had been convicted by the Bihor Court in Romania, receiving a prison sentence of six months suspended for two and a half years, and had been ordered to pay judiciary costs.
The tribunal saw a statement made by Sheikh to Romanian police where she said: “I know why I am accused of and the deeds that I am accused of, that during 2012 I bought several times from the accused [redacted] many grams of dangerous drugs.”
In September 2016, the NHS Trust obtained a CRB check which noted her previous drug conviction.
But Sheikh’s clinical supervisor believed it to be a case of “mistaken identity” and it was agreed Sheikh would investigate with the Disclosure and Barring Service, due to her Romanian certificate not having any criminal charges on it.
Sheikh continued to deny being knowingly involved in a drug transaction on a number of occasions, both to her clinical supervisor and to the GMC, before disclosing the conviction in January 2018.
A spokesperson for Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told the ECHO : “After completing pre-employment checks, Dr Sheikh worked at Aintree University Hospital on a fixed term basis between September 2016 and July 2018 and has not been employed by the Trust since then.
“The Trust provided the GMC with the information required to support their investigation.”
The tribunal was of the view that Sheikh’s dishonesty dented her credibility when she looked to maintain she did not know she had been convicted of a drugs offence in Romania.
Ms Rebecca Vanstone, counsel for GMC, said Sheikh had been dishonest on four separate occasions and a suspension was necessary and in the public interest.
The tribunal considered the public must be able to trust the regulatory process to maintain confidence in the medical profession — and Sheikh’s dishonesty had undermined it.
The tribunal said: “Given the serious nature of Dr Sheikh’s dishonest behaviour, that was persisted with, and its findings at earlier stages in proceedings, an immediate order of suspension is necessary and in the public interest to maintain public confidence in the medical profession and uphold proper professional standards.”
Sheikh was immediately suspended from practising for 12 months from October 11.
