Don_Kiddick
12-05-2005, 03:53
Doctor 'fleeced NHS out of £550,000'
Monday, 9th May 2005, 11:39
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A family doctor charged the NHS more than £500,000 over seven years for night visits his patients did not need, a disciplinary hearing was told today.
Dr Jagdeep Gossain's alleged fleecing of the public purse through claims of up to 540 night callout's a month -coming on top of his £47,000 a year salary - made him the NHS's most costly GP.
At the height of his alleged scam Gossain was charging almost £150,000 a year - nearly one third of the entire health authority's budget
The 46-year-old Tanzanian-born father-of-three had a "target list" of around 100 patients from his Fulham practice whom he used time and again on his claim form to Hammersmith & Fulham Health Authority in west London.
But nearly all of his out of hours visits to those patients were "clinically inappropriate", the General Medical Council's Professional Conduct Committee heard.
Gossain has already duped the GMC into postponing its misconduct hearing four times by claiming his bad back made him unfit to attend, it was said.
But he was not too injured to carry on enjoying his favourite sport - weightlifting - at an exclusive gym in Heston, Hounslow, the GMC's barrister Sarah Plaschkes said.
She said: "The Council submits that Dr Gossain deliberately, dishonestly decieved this professional body by pretending he was too ill to attend the hearing when in fact he was at a leisure centre."
Ms Plaschkes said that between May 1990 and April 1998 the doctor submitted an "inordinate and extraordinary number" of night visit claims.
The average GP makes 50 emergency night calls a year. But in September 1997 alone Gossain put in 542 claims.
He allegedly saw many of the patients for just a few minutes and to cope with his night time workload he worked just one hour in each of the morning and afternoon.
Ms Plaschkes said: "The council allege very broadly that Dr Gossain undertook an inordinate and extraordinary number of night visits for unjustifiable financial reward in the sum of approximately £500,000 in a seven to eight year period from the public purse.
"The Council accept Dr Gssain did carry out the visits he claimed for... the issue is whether the visits should have been carried out in these quantities and whether it was appropriate for these visits to be carried out at all."
She said that Gossain's claims escalated over the years. In 1991 he claimed just £1,000; by 1995 they had risen to over £75,000, peaking in 1996 at almost £160,000. In total over the seven year period he allegedly fleeced the NHS of £514,593.
In 1998 when he claimed £124,591, the average GP in his health authority claimed just £670.
Gossain is accused of carrying out so many night visits that he "could not have provided adequate care and attention" to the patients he visited.
And it is alleged his "ability to provide competent and adequate services during daytime hours was comprimised."
In early 1998 the health authority's medical advisor began an investigation into Gossain's huge claims, whereupon he forged patient's medical records, it is alleged.
Neither Gossain nor any legal representative attended today's hearing, which began in his absence.
He denies serious professional misconduct but if found guilty could be struck off the medical register.
Gossain claims to have damaged his back in 2001. He took sick pay for a year before retiring on a full pension.
But he was caught by a newspaper weightlifting at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre in Heston in August 2003.
A BBC Panorama investigation found that he was sending his three children to private school and driving a Mercedes with personalised number plates.
He and his wife Shashi, a pharmacist, live in a £350,000 house in Hounslow. She has said previously that her husband's only crime is to have been a "workaholic".
GP fraud is estimated to cost the NHS up to £20 million a year.
The hearing continues
Taken from
http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=XU912439P&news_headline=doctor_fleeced_nhs_out_of_%C2%A3550, 000
Monday, 9th May 2005, 11:39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A family doctor charged the NHS more than £500,000 over seven years for night visits his patients did not need, a disciplinary hearing was told today.
Dr Jagdeep Gossain's alleged fleecing of the public purse through claims of up to 540 night callout's a month -coming on top of his £47,000 a year salary - made him the NHS's most costly GP.
At the height of his alleged scam Gossain was charging almost £150,000 a year - nearly one third of the entire health authority's budget
The 46-year-old Tanzanian-born father-of-three had a "target list" of around 100 patients from his Fulham practice whom he used time and again on his claim form to Hammersmith & Fulham Health Authority in west London.
But nearly all of his out of hours visits to those patients were "clinically inappropriate", the General Medical Council's Professional Conduct Committee heard.
Gossain has already duped the GMC into postponing its misconduct hearing four times by claiming his bad back made him unfit to attend, it was said.
But he was not too injured to carry on enjoying his favourite sport - weightlifting - at an exclusive gym in Heston, Hounslow, the GMC's barrister Sarah Plaschkes said.
She said: "The Council submits that Dr Gossain deliberately, dishonestly decieved this professional body by pretending he was too ill to attend the hearing when in fact he was at a leisure centre."
Ms Plaschkes said that between May 1990 and April 1998 the doctor submitted an "inordinate and extraordinary number" of night visit claims.
The average GP makes 50 emergency night calls a year. But in September 1997 alone Gossain put in 542 claims.
He allegedly saw many of the patients for just a few minutes and to cope with his night time workload he worked just one hour in each of the morning and afternoon.
Ms Plaschkes said: "The council allege very broadly that Dr Gossain undertook an inordinate and extraordinary number of night visits for unjustifiable financial reward in the sum of approximately £500,000 in a seven to eight year period from the public purse.
"The Council accept Dr Gssain did carry out the visits he claimed for... the issue is whether the visits should have been carried out in these quantities and whether it was appropriate for these visits to be carried out at all."
She said that Gossain's claims escalated over the years. In 1991 he claimed just £1,000; by 1995 they had risen to over £75,000, peaking in 1996 at almost £160,000. In total over the seven year period he allegedly fleeced the NHS of £514,593.
In 1998 when he claimed £124,591, the average GP in his health authority claimed just £670.
Gossain is accused of carrying out so many night visits that he "could not have provided adequate care and attention" to the patients he visited.
And it is alleged his "ability to provide competent and adequate services during daytime hours was comprimised."
In early 1998 the health authority's medical advisor began an investigation into Gossain's huge claims, whereupon he forged patient's medical records, it is alleged.
Neither Gossain nor any legal representative attended today's hearing, which began in his absence.
He denies serious professional misconduct but if found guilty could be struck off the medical register.
Gossain claims to have damaged his back in 2001. He took sick pay for a year before retiring on a full pension.
But he was caught by a newspaper weightlifting at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre in Heston in August 2003.
A BBC Panorama investigation found that he was sending his three children to private school and driving a Mercedes with personalised number plates.
He and his wife Shashi, a pharmacist, live in a £350,000 house in Hounslow. She has said previously that her husband's only crime is to have been a "workaholic".
GP fraud is estimated to cost the NHS up to £20 million a year.
The hearing continues
Taken from
http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=XU912439P&news_headline=doctor_fleeced_nhs_out_of_%C2%A3550, 000