Dr Jane Lim was working as a self-employed GP in Central London during the time in question but previously worked in Willesden and Primrose Hill
A London doctor has been removed from the medical register after submitting invoices covering hours she had not worked over a 15-month period.
Dr Jane Lim, who was a self-employed GP at London Central and West Unscheduled Care Collaborative (LCW) during the time in question, was found to have claimed she had worked longer hours than she had.
Following a hearing earlier this month the Medical Practitioners Tribunal concluded Dr Lim’s actions were “fundamentally incompatible with continued registration”.
Prior to her time at LCW Dr Lim had held roles including as a GP Partner at Willesden Health Centre and The Primrose Hill Surgery.
At LCW Dr Lim provided remote telephone triage services from home. On March 8, 2023 a supervisor for LCW noticed Dr Lim was logged into its system, and so clocking in hours, but had not completed any work.
This led to a review of previous shifts which discovered Dr Lim had been invoicing for six-hour days despite completing very few cases.
“Further concerns were raised as it appeared that Dr Lim had submitted invoices for full shifts, but where she had either logged into [the system] Adastra late, logged out early or had not logged in at all,” according to a report detailing the tribunal’s decision.
The concerns were escalated at LCW and Dr Lim was taken off of its rota. At one stage a referral was made to NHS Counter Fraud Service though an investigation was not undertaken.
A broader review was however carried out at LCW going back to January 2022, with further issues regarding hours worked identified.
The allegations put before the tribunal included that Dr Lim had acted dishonestly in invoicing for hours she had not worked and so her fitness to practise was impaired. Dr Lim did not attend and ahead of the hearing confirmed via correspondence to the Medical Protection Society (MPS) that she wished to “disengage” from the process. The MPS also claimed she had retired by that point and had no intention of returning to practice.
During the hearing Dr B, a GP and Medical Director at LCW, told the tribunal that there were often more than 100 patients waiting for calls.
“Dr B stated that if a doctor was not logged into the system, this compromised the morale of other clinicians, was against the values of the organisation and could adversely affect patient outcomes.”
Dr Lim refuted that her actions were dishonest though did accept she was unreliable in regards to submitting and invoicing accurate hours.
According to the tribunal’s report Alan Taylor, legal counsel for the General Medical Council, claimed otherwise. He told the hearing that Dr Lim had been “receiving taxpayers’ money from the NHS for work she knew she had not done”. He further stated that the dishonesty was of a repeated and sustained nature covering 57 shifts over 41 days in a 15-month period.
Mr Taylor also stated that Dr Lim demonstrated a pattern of persistent, dishonest conduct over a significant period of time and that her actions plainly fell significantly short of what would be expected of a registered medical practitioner. He submitted that each act of dishonesty on its own would amount to serious professional misconduct but when taken together clearly amounted to serious professional misconduct.
He submitted that “such persistent dishonest conduct would undoubtedly be regarded as deplorable by fellow practitioners”. Mr Taylor stated that it was of great concern that the deception continued for as long as it did and that notwithstanding any personal difficulties in her life, Dr Lim’s actions were “deliberate, premeditated, and brought the medical profession into disrepute”.
The tribunal considered some mitigations and actions taken by Dr Lim, such as apologising to LCW colleagues, though it had “significant concerns” about other aspects of her conduct.
This included Dr Lim reportedly looking to blame others, in particular LCW for not checking the invoices before paying her.
The report read: “The tribunal determined that in view of its findings of fact and serious misconduct, a finding of impaired fitness to practise was necessary to maintain public confidence not only in the medical profession but also the system of regulation.”
On the decision for erasure, or to remove her name from the medical register, the report notes that “given the seriousn nature of the misconduct, the persistent, sustained and repeated nature of the dishonesty and the persistent lack of insight, the tribunal concluded that action must be taken to uphold the overarching objective”.
LCW was approached but a spokesperson said they will not be commenting further on the matter.
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