Don’t let the need for locum cover compromise your verification standards.

Don’t let the need for locum cover compromise your verification standards.
09/07/2021 Qualification Check

Don’t let the need for locum cover compromise your verification standards.

A recent study by the Royal College of Physicians has shown that more than a quarter of senior consultant physicians expect to retire within 3 years, and that 56% of trainees are considering only working part time.

With the extra demand created in the wake of the Covid crisis, doctors have been diverted away from their usual duties with 43% of doctors having not yet reverted back to their original shift pattern.  The fear is that there simply won’t be enough doctors in the pipeline to replace those who are leaving.  NHS-faces-shortage-doctors-rising-number-medics-want-work-time-experts-warn.html

Doctors will also need to revalidate through a process of annual appraisals based on good medical practice with a 5 yearly recommendation from their responsible officer.  This is to ensure that doctors work to required standards, keeping their knowledge up to date and are fit to practice.

The demands that this type of pressure can place on a Trust or Locum agency can be considerable and can lead to mistakes made in the compliance and verification  processes of a potential candidate.  Unfortunately, this environment also attracts those individuals with bad intentions who try to exploit it for their own personal gain.

In addition to these demands, personnel shortages have been filled with health care professionals recruited from overseas.  This has provided agencies with the additional challenge of verifying equivalency of qualifications or professional competencies.

A recent examination of the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service by Qualification Check showed a number of disciplinary outcomes over the last 12 months where doctors had been investigated for exploiting these processes.

This included two doctors who had each supplied false certificates of good standing in order to be restored to the GMC medical register.  One had tried to cover up their suspension in another country for committing offences there. A third had falsely represented to a recruitment agency that they were on the National Performers List when in fact they had been removed due to an ongoing investigation.

A doctor was convicted of fraud with losses to the trust of around £300,000 for grossly exaggerating their competence and experience and had carried out numerous surgical procedures on patients.  Another had created bogus email accounts in other doctors’ names to supply false employment references and went to the effort of forging a hospital stamp.

The consequences of failing to conduct diligent verification processes can be catastrophic.  Public safety is put at risk, trusts and agencies can be victims of fraud or subject to compensation claims and there can be considerable reputational damage.

Qualification Check assists NHS trusts, private healthcare providers and agencies in the verification of local and international academic and professional qualifications and licences.

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