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| CREDIT: adelaidenow.com.au Police are in the midst of investigating an individual who posed as a doctor at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital. The hospital employee was posing as a doctor for eight months. The hospital refused to confirm the individual was working as a doctor but did confirm an employee was under investigation. A spokesperson said, "Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital discovered on Monday (August 9th) an employee was not registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)." "This person was immediately removed from their duties and Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital referred the matter to NSW Police for investigation." "This person worked at the hospital from January to August 2021 and was fully supervised throughout that time." "The hospital is also conducting an internal investigation, and has reported the matter to AHPRA." "Police have commenced an investigation." As of yet, no charges have been placed. The person could face charges including fraud. As well as police prosecution, under Australian law, an individual could also be prosecuted by AHPRA for claiming to be a health professional without being registered with the relevant national board. The law that is in question, The National Practitioner Regulation National Law Act, was strengthened in 2019, doubling fines and allowing an individual to be jailed following an AHPRA prosecution. In 2018, Raffaele Di Paolo was prosecuted by police and jailed for 10 years, after being found guilty of holding himself as a medical practitioner. He was a homeopath. The year before that, Shyam Acharya was convicted in NSW local court after he claimed to be UK-based Dr. Sarang Chitale. He was also fined $30,000. |
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