Judge confirms censure of doctor over English competency

The President of the High Court has confirmed a censure recommendation by the Medical Council of a Sudanese doctor who provided a questionable certificate of his English language competency in order to work here.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly last month expressed concern that "mere censure" and a requirement that Dr Mohamed Abdelrahman undergo an ethics course did not seem to reflect the seriousness of what he had done.

The Medical Council brought the censure recommendation arising out of an inquiry last August in which the doctor was found guilty of professional misconduct.

Dr Abdelrahman, who works in obstetrics and gynaecology in Letterkenny General Hospital, was found guilty of three counts of professional misconduct by a Medical Council fitness to practise inquiry.

The inquiry found he had presented a letter in 2012, purporting to be from the British General Medical Council (GMC), that he had passed a language competency test.

The inquiry heard the British authorities were not satisfied with an internationally recognised certificate he provided regarding his competency in writing and speaking English. It was established the scores on the test were not correct.

Dr Abdelrahman sat the English exam in Sudan and later claimed he had been the victim of fraud there. He later sat an English language exam again and got the appropriate certificate.

Accepted factual allegations

While he accepted the factual allegations before this inquiry, his lawyer told the committee he was a very young doctor, just 22, at the time of the events. He was a doctor with an excellent academic record and there were no issues about patient safety.

When the sanction recommendation came before Mr Justice Kelly, he expressed concern the penalty did not seem proportionate given the seriousness of what had occurred. He said he wanted to hear both from the Medical Council and from the doctor himself and adjourned the matter.

On Monday, Nicholas Butler SC, for the Medical Council, said his client wished the original censure recommendation to stand having considered the judge’s comments.

There were important mitigating factors including the doctor’s colleagues in Letterkenny had a very high opinion of him, counsel said. The council had decided to extend leniency while not playing down the gravity of the doctor’s conduct, he added.

Mr Justice Kelly said, having considered the submissions and evidence from the council, he would confirm its decision. In doing so, he placed emphasis on the fact Dr Abdelrahman had engaged with the the authorities here, something he had not done with the GMC in England, he added.