A nurse who fabricated qualifications to secure NHS jobs has been ordered to repay £278 after being jailed for 15 months. Abdul Pirzada, 50, forged a degree certificate and falsely claimed to have worked for the United Nations and French Red Cross in conflict zones to obtain positions at three Birmingham health centres.
Pirzada, who came to the UK from Afghanistan as an asylum seeker in 2001, worked as a practice nurse for seven years before his CV was found to be fraudulent. He admitted two counts of fraud and one of obtaining a financial advantage by deception at a previous hearing.
Prosecutor Robert Davies told Birmingham Crown Court that Pirzada's CV was 'almost entirely a work of fiction or misleading claims'. Among the falsehoods were claims of being an adviser to an EU commission on refugees, working at hospitals in Glasgow and Lahore, and being registered as a doctor in Pakistan.
Judge David Tomlinson said the 'real criminality' was presenting false documentation to provide medical services, which 'strikes at the heart of a system dependent on the implicit trust patients must have in those who administer treatment'. However, the judge accepted that material gain may not have been the principal motive.
Defence counsel Richard Fisher said Pirzada was remorseful and had performed his duties competently, with no evidence of harm to patients. Pirzada must repay £278 in confiscated assets within three months or face a further 28 days in prison.
