Kingston Hospital Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) specialist Kifayat Ullah, 40, says he wanted to keep his daughters, aged six and seven years-old in their private school and fund additional family bills.
He also has a TikTok channel - The Ear Doctor - and he posts about his private work, where he charges up to £170 for emergency call outs.
He forged the signatures of three different managers when falsifying a total of 29 timesheets - claiming wages for a full 45 hour week when in reality he was working a reduced 22.5 hours at his own request.
Dr. Ullah pleaded guilty to one count of making a false instrument, with intent it be accepted as genuine, between December 4, 2020 and June 30, 2021, namely timesheets.
At Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court he received twenty-four months imprisonment, suspended for two years and was ordered to pay £51,982 compensation to Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
In addition he must also complete 250 hours community service work, up to twenty-five days of a recommended activity requirement and pay £5,000 costs.
Dr. Ullah now face professional ruin as he will appear before the General Medical Council’s conduct committee, who have the power to strike him off.
Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey told him: “You initially claimed it was a mistake and not dishonest. That was untrue.
“You are of good character and I have read all the character references and comments of patients that testify to you being a good and caring doctor.
“However, your actions did not stem from anxiety or stress as you said, but greed and avarice.
“You wanted to retain your income and you have brought disgrace on yourself and your profession.
“Everybody who reads the news knows that the one organisation that cannot afford to lose large sums of money is the NHS, it deprives money going toward the care of the people of this country.”
Prosecutor Matthew Ralston said Dr. Ullah, who shares a £1.5m two-bedroom Hampstead flat in Primrose Hill Road with his wife and daughters was paid £69.00 per hour via MedicsPro Recruitment Agency, who billed the NHS an additional £10.00 per hour.
“In the following year a support manager requested copies of the timesheets from the doctor and on inspection it was revealed the number of working hours had been inflated
“Dr. Ullah had requested a reduction from five to two-and-a-half days per week for ‘personal reasons’ but 658 hours that he claimed to have worked did not feature on the Trust’s system.”
He was questioned by the hospital in November, 2021. “Dr Ullah said there was an understanding he would still receive pay for forty-five hours because he worked in the evening and saw extra patients.
“He said that any mistakes were not deliberate and the hospital’s system did not reflect the hours he worked.”
Dr. Ullah’s lawyer Quentin Hunt said: “He apologises to the court, the public and the NHS. Consider the tributes from those who know Dr. Ullah well, they find it hard to believe he committed the offence.”
However, Judge Tregilgas-Davey concluded the doctor lied to his professional colleagues and told them he was wrongly accused.
“Much of the character witnesses are of the premise that he is innocent, which he must have told them, which is rather telling, isn’t it?” asked the judge.
“They are phrased in such a way that they have been given incorrect and false information by him. It is remarkable that so many of the letters are written in such a similar way.”
Mr Hunt continued: “He is well known and well thought of by those with who he works professionally.”
Dr. Ullah says his ‘personal reasons’ for reducing his working hours were to care for his ill father, aged in his eighties and support his mother, aged in her seventies.
“He tells me he was under extreme stress as the breadwinner for his family and as a result made the timesheets as they are. He pays all the family expenses and the school fees for his children.
“Dr. Ullah suffers from anxiety and depression and takes daily anti-depressant medication, suffered a heart attack in 2021 and needs a hearing aid for one of his ears.”
Asking for the inevitable person sentence to be suspended the lawyer added: “His professional reputation is in tatters and he will probably be struck off by the GMC.
“There were no nice holidays, fancy cars or clothes and he has learned his lesson.
“This was an unforgivable lapse from a man who otherwise enjoyed a sparkling career in the medical profession and he is asking for a chance.”
Agreeing to suspend the sentence Judge Tregilgas-Davey announced: “I have an eye to the fact you have two young daughters and they will be adversely effected by any time you are in prison.
“This is your first offence and it seems the disgrace you have brought upon yourself is a significant punishment.”
The Trust spent an additional £34,956 in professional investigative fees with accountants KPMG and asked Dr. Ullah to pay, but this was refused by the judge, who said: “I am not going to order the astronomical sum requested.”
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