Struck-off doctor loses appeal to return to work

A doctor who was struck off for dishonestly claiming payment for working at more than one hospital at the same time has had his appeal to return to work denied.

Mohamed El Muiad was struck off the medical register in 2012 after a tribunal found he had submitted 22 time sheets for payment relating to work at more than one hospital at the same time.

The General Medical Council (GMC) said El Muiad had displayed an "arrogant contempt" for the rules and that his conduct had put patients at risk.

El Muiad, who applied to be re-registered with the GMC, said he "deeply regretted" his actions, but a tribunal rejected his appeal after saying he had failed to demonstrate sufficient insight.

Tribunal papers said that between 2008 and 2009 El Muiad accepted consultant shifts from Pontefract General Hospital and Dewsbury and District Hospital in West Yorkshire, as well as from the Royal Blackburn Hospital and and Salford Royal Hospital.

Documents said that on several occasions El Muiad, who had registered with the GMC in 1993 and had been a consultant since 2000, committed to working at more than one hospital at the same time but did not inform the booking agency or NHS Trust of the conflict.

After being referred to the GMC by the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs Pontefract and Dewsbury, he was struck off in 2012.

El Muiad had previously been suspended for six months in 2005 for making false travel expense claims and taking on paid work when he had been granted study leave, the report said.

El Muiad, who it was said had worked in Sudan between 2011 and 2023, admitted to the tribunal he had "prioritised workload and personal gain over patient safety" with his actions.

He said that since then, he had "reflected deeply on his character and behaviour and undertaken substantial remediation".

He added that he would be "committed to upholding" high professional standards in future.

However, the panel concluded that restoring El Muiad to the medical register would create a "potential risk to patient safety" and that it could not be sure the risk of him committing further misconduct had been "adequately reduced".

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