By Emb Hashmi
Abdul Pirzada a fake doctor based in Birmingham conned his way into medical surgeries and patient’s life, for 7 years with fake documents and certificates and no real medical accreditation has been jailed for 15 months.
A former patient of Abdul Pirzada, Sophia Alam from Small Heath, spoke to Asian World exclusively, about her experience and reaction to the fake doctor’s sentence.
Sophia said; I went to my local doctors, Pak surgery in small heath, one day and was told my appointment was with Mr Pirzada, I went into his clinic and he tried to take a blood sample from me, he couldn’t even find my vein”, Sophia went on to say she was shocked at his lack of professionalism and knowledge on basic medical information.
Sophia went on to say “he abused our trust, I’m only glad no one actually died under his treatment” Sophia concluded in saying this sentence should serve as a strong warning to any other con artist to think twice before they take innocents peoples lives in their hand. Abdul Pirzada, from Tyesley, was arrested in October last year after NHS officials raised concerns about the man with detectives from West Midlands Police.
The case dates back to February 2004 when Pirzada secured a job as a practise nurse at a medical centre in Saltley by falsely claiming he was a qualified doctor in his native Pakistan.
The 50-year-old went so far as to copy genuine medical qualifications, adapt them and pass them off as his own. He then convinced the centre’s medics that he had passed the necessary exams which would allow him to legally practice in this country and that he was working at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a doctor.
For seven years, the maverick ‘medic’ undertook part-time duties at the practice before being suspended after senior partners received an allegation that he had been prescribing drugs.
Shortly before his resignation at the Saltley GP surgery, Pirzada used his contacts at his local mosque to secure an interview for a post at a medical centre in Aston.
Again, Pirzada attended the interview armed with false accreditation and a host of carefully calculated lies which were so convincing that he secured the position. This allowed him to examine patients alone, take blood samples and diagnose medical conditions.
Despite being barred from issuing prescriptions, the fanciful ‘physician’ issued in the region of 40 prescriptions.
Whilst having two part-time posts, in Spring 2010, Pirzada acted as a locum GP at a surgery in Sparkhill on behalf of a friend who couldn’t fulfil his contractual obligation.
On those two occasions, he examined patients and prescribed medicines to his unsuspecting clients.
It was only when an eagle-eyed local pharmacist spotted Pirzada’s signature on a prescription that officers were alerted and a major investigation launched in conjunction with NHS investigators.
Pirzada was arrested on 4 October 2011 at his home and the property searched.
Around the house, officers discovered a large quantity of prescription drugs were found along with falsified documents and blank prescriptions.
When interviewed, Pirzada initially denied the offences but when confronted with the mountain of evidence complied by detectives and NHS fraud investigators, eventually admitted his crimes.
Detective Sergeant Jonathan Jones, from the force’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “This was an exceptionally unusual case for us as investigators and our immediate concern was to safeguard members of the community who had placed their trust and health in the hands of Pirzada. Thereafter we set about untangling all the lies and deceit told by this man to obtain these positions of trust.”
“Together with the NHS, we immediately instigated an operation to trace all of those concerned to ensure they had not suffered any ill-effects by the bogus medic.
“At the same time, a comprehensive investigation was being conducted by my officers to fully understand the nature and extent of the offences.
“I am satisfied with the verdict which demonstrates the severity of Pirzada’s crimes.”
A spokesperson for NHS Birmingham and Solihull said: “We are pleased that Abdul Pirzada has been brought to justice.
“We were shocked that he had deceived patients and medical staff, and we immediately launched an internal review.
“In conjunction with our local Counter Fraud team, we contacted all GP practices in the cluster detailing what checks must be made before employing individuals and reminding them of their responsibilities under their GP contract to undertake these checks.
“We referred the GPs at the Al Shafa Medical Centre to the General Medical Council for further investigation by their professional body and advised patients who had been treated by Mr Pirzada to contact their GP or the Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) if they had any concerns about their care.
“To ensure patient safety, we subsequently reviewed Mr Pirzada’s prescribing, clinical records and diagnoses, and no concerns were identified.”
Following his arrest the Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust together with NHS Birmingham East and North set up an emergency helpline for patients worried that they may have been seen by Pirzada.
Detectives worked with health officials to trace all of the patients who were seen by Pirzada to ensure that they not suffered any ill-effects.
An internal investigation was also launched by health officials to examine how the man was employed.
Pirzada pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception at a hearing in April this year and was yesterday (Wednesday 26 September) sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for each offence.
