Sheffield nurse practised for 20 years with bogus papers from Pakistan before authorities noticed

A nurse who had been practising in Sheffield for 20 years has been suspended after it emerged he entered the healthcare profession using bogus paperwork.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council has the power to strike nurses off or suspend them through disciplinary hearings (pic: Pixabay)The Nursing and Midwifery Council has the power to strike nurses off or suspend them through disciplinary hearings (pic: Pixabay)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council has the power to strike nurses off or suspend them through disciplinary hearings (pic: Pixabay)

Dildar Ali registered as a nurse in the UK in April 2000 by submitting forms stamped by the Pakistan Nursing Council assuring he was certified.

However, it was discovered in 2020 that the paperwork was false and he had never worked as a nurse in Pakistan – meaning he had been practising for over 20 years without the qualifications.

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At a virtual disciplinary hearing held on July 28, a solicitor representing Mr Dildar – who himself did not attend – said his client refused to admit the allegations. However, he asked to be voluntarily removed from the nursing register on the grounds of ill health.

The authorities were first alerted after concerns were raised that Mr Ali had been working as a nurse despite never working as a nurse in Pakistan. This contradicted the paperwork he had submitted when he applied to the register in 2000.

A report from the hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council reads: “The public would be shocked to discover a person had secured entry onto the NMC register by the use of a falsified document and would expect action to be taken.

"The submission of falsified documentation intended to deliberately mislead the NMC is an extremely serious matter [...] and the panel considered that to take no action in the circumstances was wholly inadequate.”

The panel suspended Mr Ali for 18 months to prevent him from practising in the time it would take to appeal the decision in he wanted.

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