A DOCTOR who lied on his CV having transferred from south-east Asia to Barnsley has been given a four-month suspension having been found guilty of wrongdoing.
Dr Chain Kai, who appeared before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) last month, was found to have discrepancies on the documents he submitted to hospital bosses between January and July in 2022.
‘Plagiarised material’ was found regarding his skills and experience whilst practising in the south-east Asia nation of Myanmar - formerly Burma - which ‘misrepresented’ his level of experience.
Dr Kai made admissions both within his response to the NHS Gateway Access Programme - a scheme designed to support doctors with refugee status obtain their first role in the UK - that he copied audits from an online source and used them within his CV, as well as in a letter to the General Medical Council.
He also accepted that he had attempted to present his application in a more favourable light, however he then attempted to distance himself from those admissions within his written submissions made last month before the hearing.
Dr Kai - who represented himself - stated that he wished to express his ‘sincere and profound regret’ for his actions, to those he had misled, to his peers and to the profession he ‘deeply respected’.
The tribunal report said: “Dr Kai had applied for a job and, by submitting a CV that included plagiarised material, had been deceitful regarding his skills and experience.
“By misrepresenting his level of experience on his application form and CV, Dr Kai was potentially depriving someone else better qualified of the role.
“He accepted that his actions were inexcusable and fully accepted the seriousness of the consequences.
“Dr Kai submitted that his remorse has been a catalyst for genuine change in his professional conduct and personal ethics.
“He conceded that understanding the impact of his actions had been a difficult, but necessary, journey towards becoming a more honest and responsible individual.
“The tribunal determined that Dr Kai had breached fundamental tenets of the medical profession.”
Dr Kai stated that his commitment to ethical practice was ‘unwavering’, and that he had implemented safeguards in his professional conduct to prevent future lapses in his judgement.
He also stated that he was ‘sincerely grateful’ for the learning opportunity the tribunal process had offered him and was fully committed to upholding the high standards expected of him within the medical profession.
The report added: “Dr Kai invited the tribunal to reconsider the sanction of suspension suggested by the GMC in favour of conditions that would allow him to continue serving the community.
“The tribunal considered it an aggravating factor which affected the insight of Dr Kai that he had given inconsistent accounts during the investigation and the proceedings.
“He had initially made multiple admissions that the entries on his application form were untrue and that he had known them to be so.
“It was only just before the proceedings formally commenced that he asserted that he had carried out a project in Myanmar which was very similar to that set out in his application form.
“The tribunal first considered whether to conclude the case by taking no action.
“Taking no action following a finding of impaired fitness to practise would only be appropriate in exceptional circumstances - we determined that given the findings there are no exceptional circumstances in this case and that it would not be sufficient, proportionate, or in the public interest to conclude this case by taking no action.
“The tribunal was in no doubt that Dr Kai’s misconduct was sufficiently serious that action is required to maintain public confidence in the medical profession and to assert proper professional standards.
“A message must be sent to the medical profession and the public that this behaviour was unacceptable in order to uphold professional standards and public confidence.
“However, the tribunal was satisfied that Dr Kai has readily and fully engaged in the regulatory process and that he has taken responsibility for his actions.
“Further, it was satisfied that Dr Kai’s apologies and expressions of remorse are genuine and reflect not just his regret for having acted as he did, but also his determination not to let the profession down again.”
