A DOCTOR who worked at two major Scottish hospitals has been suspended over claims he lied about his qualifications.
Muhammad Ishaque, who worked as a trainee locum doctor for NHS Grampian between April and September last year, is to appear at a medical disciplinary later this month.
Dr Ishaque, who worked at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray’s at Elgin, is to answer allegations that he falsely claimed to be a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and that he had a masters degree from an American university.
He is scheduled to appear at a hearing in Manchester of the Fitness to Practice Panel of the General Medical Council (GMC).
A GMC spokesman said: “The panel will inquire into the allegation Dr Ishaque’s actions were misleading and dishonest in that, in 2010, in e-mail correspondence to the GMC, Dr Ishaque used the suffix MRCS (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons) after his name, knowing that he was not entitled to do so until he had passed all three parts of the intercollegiate examination for Royal College of Surgeons and applied for membership of the Royal College of Surgeons.
“It is alleged that Dr Ishaque submitted a curriculum vitae on 10 September 2010 to the GMC in which he stated that he held qualifications he did not have.”
Margaret Watt, of the Scottish Patients Association, demanded an investigation. She said: “NHS Grampian should be upfront about how many patients he came into contact with. I have serious concerns about this.”
However, an NHS Grampian spokeswoman said there were no concerns for patient safety.
She said: “Dr Ishaque was a trainee locum doctor who worked for NHS Grampian on two occasions between April and September 2011. As a very junior doctor he was under direct clinical supervision at all times.”