Doctor who created fake Dublin clinic found guilty of misconduct

UK-based doctor tried to gain employment in Irish hospitals dishonestly – Medical Council

A UK-based doctor who created a fake clinic on Harcourt Street, Dublin, in an unsuccessful bid to gain employment in Irish hospitals has been found guilty at the Medical Council of professional misconduct.

Dr Idowu Adeyemi Adeboro, who used falsely authenticated documents to gain registration by the Medical Council, as well as false references and a false employment history, was found guilty on seven allegations of professional misconduct.

The fitness-to-practise committee found Dr Adeboro’s actions were dishonest.

The decision by the committee will be referred to the Medical Council, which will decide what, if any, sanctions to impose.

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Dr Adeboro, medically trained in Romania and the holder of a Spanish passport, had already been suspended by the Medical Council after it emerged he had submitted falsely notarised documents. He did not attend the three-day hearing and was not represented at it.

The inquiry was prompted by a complaint by a medical recruitment firm, Cowley Brown, after it received his CV in response to advertisements it had placed through an online platform seeking to fill junior hospital posts in Irish private hospitals.

It noticed the wording of the two references supplied by Dr Adeboro was very similar, as were the website screenshots he submitted, purporting to be of previous places of employment. When staff checked, the websites were not functioning.

No medical centre

Dr Adeboro had registered as a company St Emmanuel Hospital European Medical Centre Healthcare Limited, with a purported address on Harcourt Street. Inquiries by the Medical Council revealed the address was home to an office suite company from which Dr Adebaro sought unsuccessfully to rent space in 2018.

Despite appearances, there was no medical centre operating at the address on Harcourt Street, the inquiry heard, yet Dr Adebaro’s CV falsely described him as having worked as a “resident medical officer” at St Emmanuel’s from August 1st, 2017.

The company was dissolved last month.

He also claimed to have worked as a junior doctor at SMHG Hospital Standard Medical Healthcare Group in London, but this entity does not exist.

And his CV said he was a clinical fellow at a cancer institute in Florida, but this was not true. Dr Adeboro had submitted a reference purporting to come from an oncologist at this institute, Dr Robert Reynolds, who gave evidence to the hearing saying he was retired and had never heard of Dr Adeboro.

A second reference supplied by Dr Adeboro was also false; the cardiologist alleged to have written it was not registered in the UK.

Lawyers for the Medical Council accused Dr Adeboro of creating a “web of deceit”. In communications, Dr Adeboro claimed to have had “no power” over the person who had his documents notarised, and said he had not known the UK cardiologist was not registered there.

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen is a former heath editor of The Irish Times.