TikTok Doctor stole £52k from NHS to Keep Daughters in Private School

A doctor was struck off after he swindled almost £52,000 from the NHS because he wanted to keep his daughters in private school.

Dr Kifayat Ullah, known as the ‘Ear Doctor’ on TikTok, forged work timesheets claiming he was working 45 hours a week during the pandemic. In reality, he was doing just 22.5 hours.

The married father-of-two said he needed cash to pay future school fees but refused to take out a loan because of “cultural issues”.

Ullah, who was working as a locum specialising in ear, nose and throat problems at Kingston Hospital, was reported to police after NHS fraud investigators found he had submitted 27 fraudulent time sheets recording an additional 658 hours that he never worked.

He initially tried to cover up his wrongdoing and even tried to blame colleagues but he eventually admitted it and expressed his “profound remorse”.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Ullah’s name was ordered to be erased from the doctors’ register after he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

In January 2023, he received a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Ullah was also told to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £51,902.50 in compensation after he admitted using a false instrument.

He has since repaid all the stolen money.

Ullah regularly posts TikTok videos of his private work, where he charges up to £170 for emergency call-outs and shows off his lavish lifestyle.

Inquiries began after suspicions were raised about timesheets Ullah submitted between November 2020 and June 2021.

It was discovered that he had scanned the handwritten timesheets and then edited them using Microsoft Paint by copying and pasting signatures from colleagues.

There was an overpayment to him of £45,402.

The total loss to the Trust was £51,982 as the agency unwittingly took its cut.

When confronted, Ullah falsely claimed a manager said he could work 22.5 hours but be paid for 45.

For the General Medical Council, Jade Bucklow said: “Dr Ullah appears at times to be very focused on the needs of himself and his family rather than the wider public.

“His stressors were no different to the life stressors that many doctors face day-to-day.

“He did not exhaust all the other financial options available to him.

“When asked about why he did not take a loan, Dr Ullah said that he and his family did not like debt.”

“It is difficult to understand why defrauding the NHS was more palatable than taking a loan. It comes across as an extraordinary sense of entitlement.

“This was a time when the NHS was dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and arguably was still recovering from that with waiting times at their highest and with junior doctors striking because of pay and working conditions.”

Defence lawyer Malcolm Gledhill said: “Dr Ullah has dedicated his life to medicine and sought to make a difference.

“That risk of repetition is negligible because of the changes that Dr Ullah had put in place which include different family dynamics, a better relationship with his family members to discuss matters.

“Dr Ullah believes he will deal with any new pressures in a different way to how he has in the past.

“He has been the key person in the family, someone who everyone went to and perhaps in hindsight, it was too much responsibility without negotiating a different approach.

“He was given various costings and what was potentially required over a period of time and Dr Ullah’s cultural heritage discourages incurring interest by borrowing money.

“But there has been a sea change which had really made a difference to him managing his own life moving forward.”

MPTS chairman Mr Andrew Clemes added:

“Dr Ullah’s dishonesty had been persistent, and he had tried to cover it up on a number of occasions including when he was interviewed, also seeking to deflect blame onto colleagues.”